Final Fantasy Four and a Half
by Freida Right
Summary: Angel and Sefi are the twin princesses of Baron, with wild dreams that are far from their reach. Then a few visits on their 14th birthday change their lives forever. Done at last! Sequal coming right up! FFIV.
1. Birthday Surprises

Alrighty now. Here's the fic that I've been building up to for, what, forever has it been? The basic premise of this story, as some of you might know already, is that Cecil and Rosa have twin daughters, Angel and Sefi, and the sisters are, well, odd. Angel wants to be a paladin, like her daddy, and Sefi wants to be a dark archer (rather than a dark knight).

So, here they are, stuck in perpetual teenage-y misery, when their 14th birthday rolls around. Of course, this calls for a celebration! Here they encounter 20 year-old Palom and Porom, and Red, Princess of Damcyan (those who've read "Someone New to Love" will know that her name is actually Rella; Red is her nickname).

Wanting to help and humor thier new friends, Palom, Porom, and Red help smuggle Angel and Sefi out of Baron and into a world that (unfortunately) the twins barely know. Adventure, chases, and desert-fever insue!

Disclaimer: Angel, Sefi, and Red (Rella) belong to me. But I _do_ want to own Rydia...

Let's Begin!

2222222222

Chapter 1: Birthday Surprises

Angel woke up with the sun streaming through her bedroom window, filling her with a strange sort of energy. It was odd, not being woken up by her parents; they'd abndoned that long ago, when she and her purple-haired twin, Sefi, had turned 10.

That reminded Angel of something. But she didn't know what. She hated not having the answers to things that she should know.

"Angel! Angel, wake up!" Someone shouted, poking her in the shoulder. Angel cracked her eyes open and saw Sefi towering over her, midnight-purple hair everywhere.

"Did you just get out of bed?" Angel groaned, in reference to Sefi's messy hair, and pulled a pillow over her face. Sefi pushed her messy locks out of her face and started poking Angel's stomach.

"Angel, come on! Don't you know what day it is?" She asked.

Angel suddenly bolted up, sending the pillow catapulting to the foot of her bed. "It's our birthday!" She said happily. That was the answer she'd been looking for before Sefi'd started poking her.

Someone started knocking on the door and the sisters gasped at the same time, as twins sometimes do.

"Girls, it mom. Are you awake yet?" Called their mothers voice from the hallway. "Yes," They chorused. The door opened and their mother, queen Rosa, stepped into the room.

Angel had always wondered about her mother. Rosa had an aire that one expects from a queen. She was always on time, always had the last word on most things, she was an archer in a million, as well as a white mage, she always looked very pretty, and to top it off, she'd saved the world.

Angel was sad to say that she was not like her mother. At all. The day that she was on time for something was the day that rain fell in the underworld. She hadn't had the last word on anything since she was three. She couldn't hit anything with an arrow, hurt herself if she tried to use magic of any kind, looked nice enough to be a common school girl, and the only thing she'd ever saved was a stray cat that her father had treatened to kill for it's prowling about the grounds. And yet she was destined to be the next queen of Baron.

"Good morning, girls. How are you this morning?" Rosa asked.

"Good," Sefi said happily.

"Sleepy," Angel groaned, casting a glare towards Sefi and knowing that Rosa had probably already been up for hours.

"Well, I hope you're not too sleepy for a surprise. There's something for you two downstairs, in the dining room," Rosa announced. "Shall we expect you in, say, 10 minutes?" She asked, rising to leave.

"Uh... No. Give us, maybe, 15 minutes," Angel insisted, clammoring out of bed. If she had five extra minutes, mabye she could make it on time for once.

"Alright. We'll be in the dining room. Meet us there," Rosa instructed, and left the room.

2222222222

Only 10 minutes found the twins walking down the tower steps to the main floor. "You look very nice today," Sefi said to Angel, who was wearing a white cocktail dress and a magenta pink robe. Her light brown hair, however, fell over half of her face.

"But you should have pulled your hair back with something. It looks odd like that," Sefi added. Angel didn't say anyhting, but she tucked her hair behind her ear.

"I would have dressed like you," She said to Sefi, who wore a white shirt and tan pants instead of a dress, "But I wanted to make a good impression; being the one who'll take over the kindom."

"Well, at least you like magenta," Sefi pointed out, trying to cheer up her sister. Angel nodded, but again remained silent. As they walked along, neither of them saying anything, until something caught Sefi around the wrist and twisted her arm behind her back.

"I have you _now, _princess of Baron," Someone hissed in her ear, just loud enough for Angel to hear and turn around.

"Uncle Kain, let me go!" Sefi demanded, wrenching her wrist out of the dragoon's clutches and moving into a defensive position, just like he'd showed her the year before. Kain grinned.

"That was good," He said proudly. "Just remember that you don't have to be so gentle with me just because I'm your uncle. You can hit me next time, if you'd like," He suggested.

"I can hit you right now if you'd like," Sefi thretened.

"You can hit him later, Sef," Angel said. "We've got somehwere to be, remember?"

Kain snapped his fingers, as if just remembering something. "I have something for you, Angel," He said, reaching into his pocket. He oulled out a small box, tied in a single blue ribbon, and handed it to Angel. "Open it now," He urged. "I want to see you face when you find out what it is."

"Okay," She said and pulled the ribbon off. She tore the lid off, reached inside, and pulled out a gold barrette, etched with daffodills.

"Wow!" She said. "It's so pretty! Thank you," She added, clipping the barrette into her hair.

"I know you have a soft spot for daffodills," Kain said, grinning once more.

"By the way, have you seen what our surprise is yet?" Sefi asked Kain when they began walking down the hall.

"You're getting a surprise? How nice," Kain said casually, as if he didn't know anything about it.

Angel rolled her eyes and scoffed, "We all know that you have something to do with it. Now what is it?"

"I'm not telling you," Kain said. "Then it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?"

"Then give us a hint," Sefi pleaded.

Kain thought for a moment, and finally answered, "It's very hard to carry."

"What kind of a clue is that?" Angel demanded.

"Oh, you'll find out," Kain promised.

Angel was very surprised that they actually made it to their meeting place with two whole minutes to spare. "You open the door. I'm too exctited," She said to Sefi.

"You open it. You're older," Sefi said, too excited to open the door as well.

"You two are so imature," Kain sighed, and opened the door himself (what did he care? He already knew what it was). When the door opened, someone suddenly jumpped out and yelled "Happy Birthday!" in their faces. The sisters were so shocked that it took a second to realize who the emerald-haired woman in front of them was.

"Rydia!" The twins cried together, rushing up to hug the summoner. "We've missed you so much," Angel said, feeling unexpected tears come to her eyes; she hadn't seen Rydia for years.

"How've you been?" Sefi asked.

"Alright I, suppose. But it's never the same without you two running around," Rydia said.

"Yeah. Nothing ever breaking, and no phiscal ailments befal anyone," Someone pipped up behind them.

"Edge, that wasn't nessesary," Rydia said, turning to face her husband. Edge, the ninja, shrugged and managed to keep a straight face as Rydia continued to cast a glare in his direction.

As this exchange went on, the twins glanced around the room and noticed that, aside from themselves, Kain, Edge and Ryida, only their mother was in the room.

"Where's daddy?" Angel asked.

"He left suddenly, a few minutes before you showed up," Rydia informed.

"Did he say where he was going?" Sefi asked.

"No. He just ran out of the room," Rydia answered.

"So, how do you two like your surprise so far?" Edge asked the twins.

"I like it a lot," Sefi said, smiling widely.

"What do you mean _so far_?" Angel asked.

Rosa and Kain lapsed into a slight giggle-fit, and Rosa said, "There's another surprise. And hopefully your father will be back with it soon."

"Oh. Is _that_ where Cecil went?" Rydia asked.

As Rydia finished her question, Kain, who'd been standing in the doorway, looked down the hallway and said in a cheery voice, "Cecil! There you are! Your children were wondering where you were."

"Kain! Shut up! This is supposed to be a surprise," Cecil hissed at Kain.

"What? I didn't know," Kain said innocently.

"Oh well. It happens," An unfamiliar voice said.

Sefi looked over at Rosa, hoping that her expression might say something about what was about to happen. She looked mildly amused, and very excited, so Sefi guessed that whatever was coming was going to be a lot of fun.

Cecil appeared in the door a second later with three other people. The blonde king always seemed to steal the attention of a room whenever he walked in, so no one noticed the others for a second. One was a man, a few inches shorter than Cecil, and he was wearing mostly red. The second was a lovely woman with curly brown hair, dressed in a blue dress. The third was a young girl, looking to about the twin's age.

The girl waved and said, "Hi," in a happy voice.

The girl had shoulder brown shoulder length hair, streaked with gold. Her dress, which seemed more like a mage's robe, was bright red, and tied around her waist with a berry-red scarf. Around her neck was a ruby pendant on a gold chain. She was smiling broadly, obviously pleased to be here. Angel immediately liked her. She looked like a very nice person.

"Girls," Cecil said, bring their attention back to him, "This is my friend, Edward, king of Damcyan, his wife, Alara, and his daughter, Rella."

"Actually, I prefer 'Red'," Rella interupted.

Cecil looked down at her, slightly confused. "I'm sorry: did you say 'Red'?" He asked.

"That's everyone's reaction," Rella... er, _Red_, said dully.

Angel stepped forward and held out her hand to Red. "I'm Angel. Nice to meet you," She said. Sefi ran up to them and introduced herself as well. Red shook Angel's hand.

"Nice to meet you, too," She said. "I like you two already."

2222222222

"So, why _do_ you want to be called 'Red'?" Sefi asked later.

"It's my proficientcy in fire based magic. I'm a Ga-level mage," Red said proudly.

"That is _so_ neat," Angel said. "I wanted to be a paladin, but mom and dad forbid me to become one," She added.

"Oh, that's _nothing_," Sefi insisted. "I want to be a dark archer." Red looked confused.

"A what?"

"A dark knight who shoots arrows," Sefi explained, as if she was explaining how to add one and two to a 34 year old. There was a short silence while Red registered what Sefi had just said.

"And they won't let you become one either?" She finally asked.

"Yup; that pretty much sums it up," Sefi said saddly.

"Why not? I bet you guys would be great at what you want to do," Red said, feeling sad for her friends.

"Daddy said that if I don't think I could handle being a queen, then I couldn't handle being a paladin," Angel said in a whiney voice.

"He told _me_ that being a dark knight is dangerous," Sefi explained.

"Oh, parents being parents. I know how you feel," Red said sympathetically. "Especially about being queen. I'm sorta stuck with it, being an only-child," She added.

"I've sometimes considered running away on an airship, but I know someone would catch me," Angel said sullenly. In truth, it was a good plan. But what she said about getting caught was also true. After weighing the consequences, Angel had decided to stay where she was.

"That's a good idea though," Sefi stated; she'd never heard about this idea before.

"We should all run away together," Red suggested. "Wouldn't that be fun?"

"Yeah. Let's do it," Sefi urged.

"We'd get caught. It's too risky," Angel said, shaking her head.

Sefi and Red looked downcast, but they knew taht Angel was right, so they didn't say anything else on the matter and changed the subject.

Luckily, the surprises weren't over just yet. Otherwise, there wouldn't be much of a story, now would there?

2222222222

Hmmm... I don't know about this chapter. It wasn't the greatest, I know. I need your help right now. Send me your suggestions and I'll fix things so they'll be a lot better.

And, in case some of you are wondering where Palom and Porom are, they make a dramatic entrance in the next chapter. Hang tight; they'll show up and assist our scheming trio in ways that I'm still brain-storming. Off to work!


	2. Escape to Mysidia

Chapy two. I've got nothing to say today.

2222222222

Chapter 2: Escape to Mysidia

2222222222

Only two hours later, the day was going by slowly. The grown-ups didn't seem to run out of things to talk about, but the princesses had nothing left to say to each other. Now they were just sitting around, hoping that a new topic of discussion would make itself known before they went crazy.

"Soooo," Red said, rubbing her neck, "How do you know Rydia? She doesn't look like she's part of you family."

"She's an old friend of mom and dad's," Sefi answered.

"They never told us how they met her, though," Angel added.

"We've offten wondered about that, though," Sefi added. They had a teneancy to speak in this manner, being twins.

There was another long pause.

"Is there _nothing_ interesting left to talk about?" Angel shouted, so loud that everyone in the room turned to look at her. She folded her arms acorss her chest and began fuming.

"Something worth disscusing had better happen, or I'll hit someone," She growled.

And then something worth disscusing happened. The door flew open and two people, a man and a woman, walked in. From their clothes (and the faint aire that all mages seem to give off), everyone correctly took them to be mages. The man was fairly tall, but he looked to be pretty young; Sefi guessed that he might be 20 at least. His brown hair came down to his shoulders, and his green eyes sparkled mischievously. He was dressed in in dark brown pants, a white shirt with orange stripes, and a green mage's robe. With him he carried a silver staff.

The woman looked very much like the man; so much so that they could be family. Her hair, also brown, was pulled away from her face, but the front part fell to the sides of her face. The rest of her hair was tied in a bun behind her head, and held in place with a pair of chopsticks. Her floor length dress was white with red stripes, and the cape around her neck was a deeper shade of red than the strips on her dress. It struck several people as odd than she wore a cape rather than a robe, like most mages. Though her eyes were also green, they looked calmer, more quite, and more still than those of the man beside her.

"Our apologies for being so late, peoples," The man said casually, on a commanding but kind voice.

The woman giggled and said, "We'd forgotten how long Devil's Road was." To Angel, Sefi, and Red, it seemed like the two people took up the entire room. It also seemed like a long time before Cecil and Rosa broke the silence.

"Palom! Porom!" Cecil cried happily.

"We'd thought you weren't coming," Rosa added.

The man, Palom, waved his hand dissmisively, and said, "Don't be silly. We wouldn't miss a chance to see you all again for the world."

The woman, Porom, then caught sight of the three open-mouthed princesses in the corner of the room. She smiled at them and poked Palom in the ribs.

"Hey! What was that for?" He demanded of his sister.

"Look over there," She told him. He did as Porom told him and looked over toward the three. When he saw them, his eyes widened suddenly, and he gasped softly.

"Hello," Porom said, and walked over to them. She curtsied and introduced herslef. "I'm Porom, the white mage. I'm pleased to meet you." She paused, waiting for her brother to introduce himself, but when he gave no voice, she looked back at him and said in a demanding voice, "Palom! Get over here and say hello!" Palom snapped out of his daze and hurried over.

He nodded to each of the princesses and said, "Hi. I'm Palom. Nice to meet you," in a hurried voice, as though he couldn't wait to finish talking.

"What's wrong with _you_?" Sefi asked Palom, wondering why he was acting so strange.

"Uh... Nothing. I'm fine... I'm fine..." He trailed off, starring at Sefi as if he was going to use laser vision (which he didn't posess) to burn a hole through her head. "I just happen to think you're very pretty," He admitted to her.

"Oh," Sefi said, blushing deeper red than Red's ruby pendant. "Thank you."

"It's a very great pleasure to finally meet you both," Angel said, ending the sequence between her sister and the mage. "We've both heard so much about you from mom and dad."

"Yeah, you two were really something," Sefi added. Palom started beaming.

"Why, thank you," He said proudly.

"It was the least that we could do," Porom said. "We're just happy that we were able to do something."

Angel admired Porom's statement. She was not only a brilliant mage, but also seemed to be very selfless.

Red was trying to get Palom's attention, but he was sparking a conversation with Sefi. Red felt a bit left out now. Palom seemed to be ignoring everyone except for Sefi, and Porom was chating with Angel.

"Hey, Red," Angel asked, "Why aren't you talking with anyone? Come over here and join us," She insisted. Red's eyes lit up and she rushed over to Angel and Porom.

On the other side of the room, the grown-ups were watching the five conversing with each other. Cecil and Rosa looked pretty impressed and content with what was going on. Confused, Edward stepped forward and asked them,

"I thought you'd want to talk with them. They seem to have forgotten that we're even here."

"Talk about fair-weather friends," Edge mumbbled just loud enough for the king and queen (of Baron) to hear.

"What's wrong?" Rosa inquired the ninja. "This is what we wanted to happen."

"_What_?" Edge asked, also confused.

"Our kids seem to be making friends with each other," Cecil explained. "And they also seem to be getting along with two very influential people. Why wouldn't we want that to happen?"

"That makes _no_ sence," Edge complained.

"I think it makes perfect sence," Rydia stated. "Besides: I think the girls needed to meet Palom and Porom," She added.

"Well then, we're all happy. We're all getting along, and our children have new friends," Alara said.

"I couldn't agree with you more," Kain said to her.

2222222222

After their meeting with Palom and Porom, there wasn't a quiet moment between the five friends. The past 14 years had apparently been very productful for the mage twins. They had all kinds of stories to tell and interesting facts to give. The spring of disscusion topics never seemed to run dry with these two.

"You know," Angel said after a while, "We had an idea his morning."

"Actually, it was _Angel's_ idea," Sefi corrected. "She thought that maybe we, Red, Angel, and I, could steal an airship and run away. Isn't that a neat idea?"

"It is," Palom said, sounding impressed with the plan. "Why not go?" He asked.

Porom smacked the back of his head and said, "Because it's the wrong thing to do."

"Actually, we wanted to run away because we're tired of the lives we've got," Red said, ashamed of their motive for wanting to run away; Porom's reason for staying was far more virtuous than their's.

"What's so bad about the lives you have?" Porom asked.

"Well," Sefi explained, "Red dosen't want to be a queen, but she's being forced to become one; Angel has the same problem. Meanwhile, I want to become a dark archer and Angel wants to become a paladin, but mom and dad won't let us. _That's_ why we want to run away."

"Ah... Life's unfair around here, so you think that running away's going to fix everything," Palom said whistfully, recalling the time that he ran away from home because he thought that life was unfair. He came back home because Porom found him and dragged him back, and also because he found out how hard it was to live alone in the forests surronding Mysidia. "Trust me: you guys are better off _here_," He said.

"But we have dreams that won't come true while we're stuck here. If we're going to make those dreams come true, we've got to escape," Angel explained.

"Yeah, you want to be a paladin and your sister wants to be a... What did you say again?" Porom asked.

"A dark archer," Sefi said.

"...Riiiiigh..." Porom said, not sure what to say to that.

"Cool, yes," Palom said. "Practical... I don't know. Aren't you afraid of what could happen?"

"What _could_ happen?" Angel asked.

"Don't you know what you have to do to become a paladin?" Porom asked.

Angel shook her head. "No. Daddy only told me that you have to go to Mount Ordeals and go through the trial. He never said what kind of trial, though," She said.

"But she could make it through the trial, whatever it is; I'm sure of it," Sefi insisted.

"Trust me, it's harder than you think. It's not the test of strength that you're probably anticipating," Porom assured them.

"But... I _still_ want to do it," Angel said. There was a moment of silence for the first time since that morning.

Fnally, Palom said, "I'll help you escape and take the trial."

Angel's eyes went wide. "Really? You'll really help me?"

"Yeah. Mount Ordeals is to the east of Mysidia. We can take Devil's Road back to the city," Palom explained.

"I'm coming with you," Sefi put in. "No sister of mine's going through a trial of any kind without me."

Red stepped up and said, "Count me in. I didn't make friends just to watch them run off and leave me behind."

Palom turned to Porom and asked, "Hey sis, are you in?"

Porom crossed her arms and said, "I'm not helpping you run away. It's not the right thing to do."

"Oh fine. Be a goody goody. We'll go without you," Palom said, and hit the floor with the bottom of his staff like a gavel. "We leave tonight!" He proclaimed. "Be ready, all three of you. It's a long way to Mysidia."

2222222222

That night, Angel, Sefi, and Red slipped out of their bedroom and into the hallway to meet Palom downstairs. The plan had changed drastically after a brief disscusion. The twin sisters knew how dangerous Devil's Road could be, and didn't know how wise it would be to take it. Besides, Sefi knew how to pilot an airship always wanted to fly one across the ocean. At first, Palom thought that taking an airship was a bad idea because, God forbid, someone found out about their plan, they could be caught in fairly short order. And, if everyone knew how badly Angel wanted to be a paladin, they'd be smart enough to guess the missing children had made a beeline for Mysidia. Red, however, insisted that this wasn't a problem. They could take the long way and any search parties would be gone from Mysidia before they (the foursome) got there.

With the assurance that taking an airship would be alright afterall, they agreed to go on the best ship available; _The Enterprise_.

Meanwhile, several hallways away, Rosa woke up with a start. She felt like something was happening somewhere, but she couldn't tell what or where. She focused on the disturbance and, after a minute, felt that it had something to do with the girls.

"Cecil, wake up. Somethings wrong," She whispered in her sleeping husband's ear.

Still to used to hearing Rosa whisper that in the middle of the night, Cecil was awake in a flash and looking around for something to stab with the sword he didn't have.

"Calm down," Rosa said gentley, laying a hand on Cecil's shoulder. "I think something's wrong with Angel and Sefi," She explained.

"What?" He asked, not fully able to believe what Rosa had just said. He sat very still and felt for the vibe that Rosa was picking up. Finally he felt it too; a strong metalic sort of feel in the air, but when one focused on it just right, one got a clear mentle picture of Angel and Sefi. The mage and the paladin used to feel these vibes all the time when the twins were little and often had nightmares. When this happened, Rosa would run to their room and wake them from their dreams. But this time the feeling was much stronger, and seemed to promise something much worse than a bad dream. Neither of them had felt one for years, either.

"I think maybe we should go and check on the girls," Cecil said slowly, rising from the bed and going to the door. Rosa quickly followed, worried about what this abnormally strong feeling meant.

The princesses had just left the stairs and were moving towards the end of the hall where Palom was waiting for them.

"Angel! Sefi! Where are you two?" Someone yelled fromt he top of the steps.

"It's mom!" Sefi nearly shouted, but managed to keep it at a whisper.

"What do we do now?" Red asked, begining to panic.

"We run and hope they don't catch us," Angel said, taking Red by the wrist and pulling her along the corridor.

When they rounded the corner and saw Palom, he ran up to them and asked,

"Who was just screaming your names?"

"Mom. She found out we left," Sefi explained, leading the charge down the hall.

Palom snorted angrily and grumbbled, "I bet Porom could get over her consience and squealed on us. We've got to get to the airships fast."

The twins led the strangers down the hall, toward the airship hanger as quickly and quietly as they could. Unfortunately, the hanger was five minutes away, and the halls of the castle were filling with people searching for the two... no, _three_ missing princesses. Several times, they nearly ran into their own parents. Angel was mildly surprised that Cecil and Rosa weren't able to sence the presance of their own daughters, who were only 15 feet away at times. But she guessed that they were very worried about the situation, so they were to blinded by their worry to notice anything else. However, the danger of being caught led to taking several detours and it took the four about 10 minutes to get to the hanger.

When they finally rounded the corner that led them to the hanger door, they bolted forward, happy that this adventure was almost over. But then, a tall figure stepped from the shadows, blocking their way. In the small light that Red cast to light their way, the Angel and Sefi immediately, and unhappily, identified the figure as Rydia.

"And where are _you_ four going?" She demanded. No one could get an explanation, they were suddenly so terrified. Palom was sorely tempted to cast a spell on Rydia; after 10 nerve racking minutes they were only 12 feet from their goal, and he wasn't going to let anyone interupt the mission. Not even the summoner.

Red noticed something slip out of the shadows from which Rydia had appeared, and come to rest on the green haired woman's shoulder. Rydia suddenly gasped and sunk to the floor, unconsious. The party was quite startled by what had just transpired. Two more people stepped forth from the shadows. One was Kain, and the other was Porom.

"Get on an airship as fast as you can, and get out of here before someone else catches you. I'll hold off the others," Kain directed, and collapsed on the floor next to Rydia, pretending to be unconsious as well.

"Thanks, uncle Kain. We owe you something," Angel whispered to the dragoon and led the party to the door, noting that Porom was following them.

"Changed you mind?" Sefi asked her.

"Yeah. I don't know why, but something tells me that you'll need a white mage before this journey's over," Porom said with a heavy sigh. Palom didn't say anything to her, but cast a mean glare at her.

When they all came to the door, Palom tried to turn the knob but found that it was locked.

"How do we get to the hanger? We don't have a key," He said.

Sefi jumpped up and held onto the door beam. She tried to pull herself over it, but lacked the strength to do so. "Porom, could you please cast float?" She asked.

Porom cast the spell without a word and Sefi floated up just over the beam. Sefi pulled a lose brick out of the wall and reached inside.

"Bring me down," She directed, and Porom stopped the spell. Once she was on the ground, Sefi held up an elaborately toothed silver key on a purple leather cord.

"When mom and dad became king and queen, they had all the locks and keys in the castle replaced," She explained, unlocking and opening the door. "They had the locksmith make a particularly special lock for the airship hanger. You can't pick it, melt it, or magic it open unless mom uses the proper spell. This is one of only four keys to that lock; the locksmith gave one to mom, one to dad, one to Cid, and they hid the last one over the door beam as a spare."

"Very clever," Palom said once everyone was through the door. Sefi quietly shut the door behind her and locked it behind her, hoping that Cecil and Rosa didn't have their keys on their person at the minute, and that Rosa would forget about the unlock spell for a little while.

_The Enterprise_ was on the far end of the long row of airships, so it took a while for the sisters to find it. But when they did at last, they ushered everyone on board and Sefi ran to the front. She took the key once again and put it in the ingnition. When she looked up and noticed the curious looks on everyone's faces, she quickly explained that the key was made from a copy of the mold that Cid had made for several of his airships; it was basically a skeleton key to everything that had to do with the airships. Angel was surprised. She'd never heard that part before. But it made no difference, because Sefi also knew how to operate the crafts, and took the ship up with ease considering that she hadn't piloted anything for months.

2222222222

20 minutes later, Kain finally heard someone coming and shut his eyes, trying to look like he was sleeping. The someone who was coming was Edge, who was making looking for his wife a side quest. He rounded the corner, and the first thing he noticed was Kain and Rydia, asleep on the floor.

"Cecil! Rosa! Come quick!" He yelled over his shoulder and ran to Rydia's side, wondering what had happened, but mostly angry that it had happened to the summoner and thatthe dragoon had been with her when it happened. A minute later, Cecil, Rosa, Edward, and Alara all came around the bend. Upon seeing what was going on, Alara ran forward and began working white magic on Kain and Rydia (she's a white mage, in case you don't know).

Rosa would have helpped too, but she was frozen with panic. Cecil couldn't move either. Edward looked back when he realized they hadn't moved and asked, "What's wrong?"

"That door," Cecil explained, "Leads to the airship hanger."

"What?" Everyone else (except Rosa) gasped.

Rydia suddenly bolted up and shouted, "The kids! They're all headed for the airships! Stop them!"

Cecil ran to the door and tried to turn the knob, but found it locked. He reached for his key, which he usually had, but remembered that it was sitting on the dresser in his bedroom. He also reached over the beam for the spare, but found the lose stone out of it's place, since Sefi had forgotten to put it back.

"Rosa, the key's gone!" He called over his shoulder. "I need that spell," He added.

Rosa rushed forward and cast her unlock spell on the knob. The lock clicked open and Cecil flung the door open. He looked down the long row of ships, and noticed one ship on the far end was missing.

Edward ran forward too. There was silence for what seemed like a long time.

Finally, Edward asked, "Where do you think they'd go?" There was another pause as Cecil and Rosa tried to think of where there daughters might run to.

"Mysidia," They both answered at the same time.

"We've got to get to Mysidia. We might catch them if we hurry," Cecil said.

"I'll go get Cid," Rosa offered, and ran off.

2222222222

And there you have it; chapter two. Hope y'all enjoyed it.

I have a little more to say now. One thing that I realized is about Kain. I know he did some pretty rotten stuff, and ran off for an unknown period of time (I'm not exactly sure what happened; I've never finished the game. But, from all the fanfiction I've read, I make educated guesses). The thing about Kain's character changing so drastically from a rather melancholy traitor to a normal, upbeat dragoon has to do with the presance of Angel and Sefi. Having the twins around gave Kain something to live for, so, basically, the twins were his redemtion.

Another thing that I should have explained before was that Red's little dream is to become a master of fire based magic. So, a trip to Mysidia promises to be somewhat beneficial to her. However, their actual stay in Mysidia's going to be fairly brief, what with Mount Ordeals right there. A three day trip by air, a quick stop to get supplies, check in with the elder, and then off to the mountain is what's in store. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but I'll elaborate on that.

Well... Chapter three won't write itself. Adios!


	3. Mysidia and a Mountain

Another thing I realized was about Palom and Porom. Palom wears white with _red_ stripes and Porom wears white with _green_ stripes. I didn't realize that until I took a good look at their character figures on the game last night... My bad. Let's just say that they decided to switch stripe colors around once and kept it that way.

Anyways, Mysidia, ho!

2222222222

Chapter 3: Mysidia and a Mountian.

2222222222

Sefi had never felt so alive in her short life. She was _actually_ driving an airship without her teacher with her! That alone was a dream come true. Angel was equally exhilarated. She was finally on her way to Mysidia, with her sister and best friends. She'd never been so happy. Red was enjoying herself too. She was a large fan of tantilizing heights; it was fun to see the land whizing by, hundreds of feet below her.

Paloom and Porom, on the other hand, were having troubles with each other. Palom was still under the the assumtion that Porom had told someone that he was helpping the girls escape, and so he was pretty steamed with his sister. Of course, Porom had been nowhere around when the search had begun. She's changed her mind at the last minute and decided to catch them before they left. But now Palom wouldn't listen when she tried to explain what happened. He refused to even look in her direction until the next morning.

"Palom, please listen to me," Porom begged. Palom just continued staring at the landscape, zipping across his line of sight, and didn't answer her.

"Palom, answer your sister," Sefi ordered from the steering wheel, feeling pretty cross with how Palom had been acting so far.

Palom sighed and reluctantly turned to Porom. "What do you want?" He asked, sounding pretty cross himself.

"I'm sorry," Porom said. "Whatever I did, I'm sorry."

"You should be. You nearly ruined our escape; don't try and pretend you don't know what you did," Palom said meanly.

"You think _I_ told them what was going on?" Porom asked, sounding hurt by this acusation. "I didn't agree with your plan, but I didn't tell anyone."

Palom didn't look like he believed her yet.

"I promise, I didn't tell anyone," She added, holding up her right hand. Still doubtful, Palom turned to the others to see what they thought.

"I believe her," Angel stated.

"So do I. I don't think Porom would turn us in and then lie to us," Red pointed out.

Palom's face softened, and he looked really sad. "I'm sorry about how I've treated you. I should have listened to you," Palom said smuggly. He mentally kicked himself for being so mean to Porom. He knew better than that. He half expected Porom to hit him, but instead, she smiled.

"Thank you," She said. "I forgive you."

"Ah..." Sefi sighed. "It's so nice to see twins getting along." And they drove on; not too long afterwards, the were flying over the sea.

2222222222

Two boring day of flight later, the big island on which Mysidia was located finally came into view. It would be so nice to finally get on solid ground again. A little beyond Mysidia loomed a high mountain of pale beige and gray rock.

_Mount Ordeals,_ Angel thought, shivering with anticipation and slight intimidation at it's size.

"Mysidia, at last!" Sefi whopped when the city came into sight. Everyone ran to the sides of the ship to see.

"And look over there," Palom said, pointing to the mountain. "There's Mount Ordeals. Above your expectations, or what?" He asked Angel.

"Certainly above my expectations. I never thought it would be so big," She said, still awed by it's sheer mass.

"Well, if you think the mountain's something, just wait 'till you see the city. It's not as important to you as the mountain, I'll wager, but I'm sure you'll like it anyways. It's a facinating city," Porom informed. "I wonder what the elder will say to your showing up and wanting to be a paladin," She mused.

"He'll probably think I'm a copy cat," Angel answered. "I'm waiting to see how he reacts to Sefi wanting to be a dark archer," She added. To this everyone laughed; even Sefi laughed.

"Ha! It's funny because it's true!" Sefi gasped between laughter.

20 minutes later, the airship landed outside the city. Naturally, the landing didn't go un-noticed. Several mages ran forth to see what was going on. When they saw Palom and Porom step off the craft they felt a little better, but they were suspicious of the other three. Quickly, Palom and Porom requested to see the elder and the crowd parted to make way for the five travelers, but not without casting several untrusting looks at the princesses.

The twin mages hurried their companions through several streets, which were mostly markets and shops. Even at the pace they were going, the strangers could get brief glimpses of the various things for sale in the shops and the open market stalls. Beautifully designed and carved pots and pans, silk scarves, colorfully feathered birds, neclaces and earing made of seashells, and various weapons were some of the few things they were able to get good looks at; they made mental notes to come back when they had some spare time.

After many streets of this, they emerged into the town square, and ran up the street leading to the south part of the city. In five minutes the came to a courtyard, surrounding a tower. Many mages were milling about the grassy area, their noses burried in books, but they all looked up when the famous twins ran up the walkway and into the tower with three strangers. The party then ran up a flight of stairs and found themselves in a narrow hallway with several doors, and one in front of them.

Porom knocked on the door, and a man's voice called, "Who is it?"

"It's Palom and Porom," Porom answered.

The door opened and an old man with a bald head and a long white beard appeared in the doorway.

"Goodness; whatever are you two doing back so soon?" He asked, sounding shocked.

"There's someone you should meet," Palom said casually, stepping to one side so the man could see the princesses. The man took a step forward, blinking many times at Angel and Sefi.

"You two are Cecil and Rosa's children, aren't you," He said, more as a statement than a question.

"Um... Yeah, that's us," Sefi confirmed.

"And who are you?" He asked Red.

"I'm princess Red, of Damcyan," She answered. The man was silent for a minute and then said, "I thought that your name was Rella."

"That's not important, elder," Palom said. "Angel wants to be a paladin," He explained.

"You want to take the trial?" The elder asked Sefi.

"I'm Sefi," Sefi corrected. "_That's_ Angel," She said, pointing to her twin.

"Oh. I'm sorry," The elder apologized. "Why would you want to go through the paladin trial?"

"Becuase I do," Angel said bluntly. "Why else?" The elder asked.

"What do you mean?" Angel asked. The elder sighed.

"Come with me," He said, motioning for everyone on the stairs to make way for him. Everyone moved and, once he was on the floor, they followed him into the kitchen.

"Porom, would you please put some water on for tea?" He asked, and she wordlessly went about her assigned task. Meanwhile, the elder and the other three girls sat down at the table, and Palom leaned against a counter.

"Listen," The elder said gravely to Angel, "If you want to be a paladin, it must be for a better reason than for being a paladin's sake. The trial is a tricky one to get through, and it carries a great responsiblity."

"I don't understand what you're getting at," Angel said in a dull kind of voice. The elder sighed again and said,

"Is there something specific you wish to accomplish by undergoing this trial?" Angel shook her head saddly.

"I just wanted to be like daddy..." She said.

"Your father had to shed himself of his dark side if he was to continue his quest to rescue your mother," The elder explained. "He underwent the trials with a purpose. You just want to be able to say, 'Oh, look at me! I'm a paladin!'"

"I object to that remark very strongly," growled Angel, who wasn't the sort of person to lord something like that over poeple.

"It's true, you know," Porom commented from the stove, where she was waiting for the water to boil.

"Come on, Angel, think," Palom said. "Is there any other reason that you want to do this?"

Angel thought for a moment. "Because I want to make a difference...?" She said.

"Well, _do_ you want to make a differerence? I'm looking for an answer, not a question," The elder said.

"Of course I want to make a difference. Who doesn't?" Angel said.

"You know," Said the elder, "There are other ways that you can make a difference."

"But I want to make a difference by becoming a paladin," Angel explained, letting a small whine slip out without meaning to.

"You just want to be like your father, don't you?" The elder asked. Angel nodded her head.

"Daddy's my hero. I want to be like him in a lot of ways," She explained.

"Hmmm... Daddy's little girl, I see," The elder remarked. Angel couldn't help but smile a little; no one had called her that in ages, even though it was too true for words.

"So, what should she do?" Sefi asked. "Becoming a paladin's been her dream since she was four years old," She added.

"And I assume that you have a dream of some kind as well?" The elder asked her. Sefi mummbled something inaudible, and the elder asked, "What? I didn't catch that."

Sefi sighed and said, "I want to be a dark archer," Looking slightly embarassed.

The elder fought to hold back laughter, but dd a terrible job at it. "One wants to be a paladin, one wants to be a dark archer," He said, sounding very amused. "Where _ever_ did Cecil and Rosa find you two?"

"That's what they _all _say," The twins chorused.

"Back to our plan," Porom said, pouring the boiling water from the kettle and into the teapot beside her, "What should we do? You sound pretty skeptical about Angel taking the trial. And we don't want to take them back to Baron; their parents would skin them alive."

"...You mean that you and Palom helped them run away? Why did no one tell me this before?" The elder demanded. He didn't sound too angry with them, but he didn't sound particularly happy about the situation either, so everyone wondered what the elder would do to them.

"Yeah, Porom. Why didn't you tell him about that?" Palom demanded, and Porom shot a threatening look his way.

"Palom, be nice to your sister," The elder scolded. "Normally, I'd be pretty upset with you; your actions were very rash and rather foolish," He said to Angel, who looked ashamed for behaving in such a manner. "However, I'm not sure about that; I've never known anyone to run away from home to take a dangerous test like the paladin trials. You sound pretty deticated to me," He said, his expression softening. Angel's heart fluttered; she hoped that the elder would let her go on to the mountain.

The elder was silent for a moment. And then he said, "Be gone from here. You have a trial to take."

Angel jumpped from her seat so fast that the chair fell over. "Really? You mean it?" She cried, so overwhelmed by joy that she felt dizzy.

"Yes, dear, I do. Your parents will kill me for if they get here, but I believe that you are destined for a fate not unlike your father's. Go quickly, if they're coming after you," The elder said to her.

"Angel's not going anywhere without me," Sefi said, rising from her chair and crossing her arms defiantly.

"And I'm coming too," Red added. "You never know when a good firaga spell might come in handy in a forbodding place like that," She reasoned.

"So, it's a party of three. Very lucky number, three," The elder said. Then he turned to look at the twin mages, staring hard at him, almost as if asking him something with their eyes.

He sighed and said, "As always, accompany the rising paladin."

"Yes!" Palom cheered. "Off again! It's been too long since we've been on a good adventure," He said to his sister.

"I know; we just don't get out enough anymore," Porom agreed.

"A party of five, then. Not as lucky as three, but I suppose it will have to do," The elder mused. "Good luck to you all. Now hurry to the mountain!"

2222222222

The next day, the elder was sitting in his library, pouring through a tome on black magic, when there was a knock on the front door.

"I wonder who that could be," He mummbled, set his book down, and went to the door. Imagine his surprise when he saw Cecil and Rosa standing on his front step.

"Cecil! Rosa! Whatever brings you here?" He asked, figuring that it had something to do with Angel and Sefi.

"Have two girls named Angel and Sefi come by here recently?" Cecil asked.

"Um... No, sorry. Why?" The elder said. He wasn't used to lying, but he felt that the twins needed all the time they could get; even if they'd taken the airship up to the mountain, and saved a lot of time.

"Angel and Sefi are our daughters," Rosa explained. "They ran away with Palom, Porom, and the princess of Damcyan four days ago. Mysidia was the first place we thought they'd go. We were hoping that we'd find them here."

"Why would they come here?" The elder asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Angel wants to take the paladin trial. And Palom and Porom are from here anyway. This was the first logical place to look for them," Cecil explained.

"And why not let her take the test?" The elder asked. "If she's _your_ child, I don't see why she would be unable to pass the trial."

Cecil hesitated before saying, "Because I'm afraid she'll get hurt."

"Ah... You fear for her safety on the mountain, do you?" The elder said, not really surprised at this response.

"We're worried about both of them," Rosa put in. "It's mainly Angel that we're concerned with, though," She added.

"I say let them chart their own course. They'd be, oh, 13, 14, 15 by now?" The elder suggested. Cecil and Rosa were both silent for a moment, as if considering what the elder had just said.

Then Cecil shook his head. "I'm not going to let my daughters get themselves killed. If you do see them, let us know, please."

"You _will_, won't you?" Rosa asked.

"...Of course," The elder assured. If he did see them he'd tell Cecil and Rosa they came back, but they'd only been gone for a day.

"Thank you. Goodbye," Cecil said, somewhat downcast, and he ad Rosa turned to leave.

The elder closed the door, and hoped that everyone would be alright. "Palom and Porom will take care of the girls," He assured himself. "What's the worst that could happen?" And he went back to his book.

2222222222

Ah... Another productive chapter. I never knew that listening to Final FantasyIV midis would help so much!One thing that I should probably tell you is that Kain, Rydia, Edge, Edward, Alara, and Cid are helping Cecil and Rosa with the search. They're just waiting on an airship. They'll all be in the next chapter.

The reason why the grown ups, who took the most direct route to Mysidia, got there a day after the kids, who took the long way (they flew up to the Damcyan desert, turned east, and the sailed south until they found the island), is because the grown ups didn't take the most direct route. They took another long way (they flew west and then south and then west again). And they didn't have Palom and Porom to guide them either. I know it doesn't make sence, but bear with me.

Next chapter, Angel goes through the paladin trial! I've got work to do... Come back for the next exciting instalment!


	4. Angel's Trial

Before I launch into my story, I want to warn you all that, due to school starting in a few days, and my freshman year about to kick off, new chapters will not be as frequent anymore. I used to update, on average, every other day; now expect every other week at most.

Additionally, we're skipping the trip up the mountain, and going straight to Angel's trial.

That out of the way, let's git it on!

2222222222

Chapter 4: Angel's Trial

2222222222

Crossing a bridge that connected a deep chasm, Palom and Porom hestitated before following the others over.

"You guys, come on," Sefi yelled back.

"We've got somewhere to be," Angel added.

"Uh... Yeah, we're coming..." Palom said slowly, taking his sister's hand and dragging her across the bridge.

"They seem a little spaced out. What do you think is wrong?" Red whispered to Angel.

"I don't know. I hope it's nothing serious," Angel answered.

Once the whole party was on the other side of the bridge, a mysterious voice came to them on the wind.

"Child of my child..." It said, "I've been waiting for you to come..."

"What?" Sefi and Angel gasped together.

"Who are you?" Angel asked.

Before an answer came, a blinding white light flashed all around them, and when they looked again they were in a large, crystaline room who's walls seemed to be made of many sheets of glass, their reflections on everyone of them. The reflections bounced off one another like visible echoes, making the five very dizzy.

"You have made your parents upset and worried now, but they will be proud of you soon. The things you will do with you new powers will make the wrongs you've done in the past few days seem like specks of dust," The voice assured Angel; it didn't directly address her in any way, but everyone got the impression that it was speaking to her.

"And," He added, "You shall rule your land as a great queen. Step forward and let your trial begin." The whole party began to adveance to the middle of the room, but the voice commanded, "Only she may proccede."

No one needed any sort of explanation to know that 'she' was Angel, so everyone stepped back while Angel continued to the center of the room.

"My pain only worsened when I gave this power to your father, so many years ago; but he used that power wisely, and still uses it wisely today," The voice explained to her. "I must now make that pain grow worse still by giving that same power to you. An evil is coming, and my son alone cannot best it. Use your power wisely as well," It called to her before fading.

"Wait!" Angel cried out after it. "What pain? What are you talking about?"

"Angel! Look out! Turn around!" Palom screamed.

Angel looked behind her and saw her reflection in one part of the mirrored wall moving all on it's own. It was Angel's spitting image, exept that it was a shade darker in every way, as if it was covered by a shadow. Suddenly it stepped out of the wall and grinned evily, brandishing a cruel looking sword.

"Oh my gosh!" Angel shouted, backing away and wanting to find herself surrounded by her four commrades. Instead, she bumpped into what felt like a wall; only she didn't remember a wall being there before. She looked up and saw a wall of translucent green light blocking her way to her friends and sister.

"Turn and face me, you spineless princess," Angel's dark half growled, still grinning that maddening smirk.

There was another flash of white light, which made everyone on the other side of the light wall shield their eyes. But Angel didn't need to: for some reason, the light didn't find the light painful, although it should have blinded her by looking at it. Her dark half gave a screech of pain and terror, doubling over with agony.

"Draw your sword," The voice from before said to her.

Angel did as she was told, and took her dull bladed sword from it's shieth. The gold hilt suddenly burned like hot coals in her hand and she cried out, but she didn't let it go. The light slowly receded, and when she could see clearly she found that instead of wearing the torn, muddy white dress she'd left the castle in she was wearing a sleeveless white shirt, so clean that it looked almost sliver, white shorts and sliver boots. Her sword, which had a dull steel blade from so much fighting up the mountain and a tarnished gold hilt, was now sharp and sliver bladed and it's gold hilt shimmered like the sun.

"Wow!" Angel cried, very pleased with how the situation had tuened out. She turned to her dark side and said, "How much damage do you think I can do on you with _this_?"

"Ha!" The dark half laughed. "A wise paladin would shieth her sword."

"Just come at me," Angel demanded and ran forward. The dark half laughed again and ran up to meet Angel.

"Angel, no!" Porom yelled. "You can't beat it if you fight it!"

However, Angel was to busy fighting with her dark half to hear what the white mage had said. The dark half was a better fighter than Angel had expected. Angel whacked a huge gash in it's arm, but the wound healed immediately and the dark half repeated, "A wise paladin would shieth her sword."

"What does that mean?" Angel demanded. The dark half didn't answer, but continued battling Angel.

The fight raged on for minutes. Angel was trying her very best to beat the monster, but nothing was working so far. She sorely wished that Cecil had told her more of the trial. Finally, the dark half raked her sword arcoss Angel's side, and she fell to the floor. Her sword slipped from her hand, and the dark half kicked it several feet away before Angel could get it.

The dark half laughed again. "A wise paladin would shieth her sword," She said again.

"Stop saying that!" Angel demanded, clutching her bleeding side.

"What do _you_ care," The dark half said to her, and raised her sword over her head. "You won't live long enough for it to matter."

Angel was in a tight spot; she'd never been able to make quick and important decisions on short notice, and this time it would cost her her life. But then, she got an idea and she rolled out of the way of her dark half's sword just as it came down.

"A wise paladin would shieth her sword... they're on the defensive all the time..." She reasoned, taking a potion out of her pocket and drinking the contents in one gulp and feeling the pain in her side vanish, and then dodging another blow from her dark half. "And when you're on the defensive you're not attacking... Chocobos, that's it!" Angel cried, finally figuring out the dark half's riddle.

She jumpped to her feet and looked her dark half in the face. "Betcha you can't get me," She said, and ran to the other side of the alotted space.

The dark half roared and and ran after her. She tried to run Angel through again, but Angel dodged again and her dark half hit the wall instead. Angel noted, with some triumph, that the dark half was growing pale and see through.

"Yes! Keep it up, Angel!" Red cheered.

"You're slaying it! It'll go down in no time!" Palom added.

"You're gonna make it! You'ree gonna pass the trial!" Sefi cried, feeling as good as her sister.

Angel just kept dodging the blows from her dark half, watching it get more and more translucent with every missed hit. At last, she brought her sword down on the floor as Angel rolled out of the way again. The dark half sank down to the floor, breathing heavily. She looked up at Angel with another angry look on her face.

"You've won _this_ round, princess. Next time, you _will_ crumbble to the evil you face," She growled, and faded away. All that was left of her was her jagged bladed sword, stuck in the glass floor.

The wall of green light faded too and everyone ran forward to Angel.

"You did it!" Palom yelled, scooping Angel into a bear hug. "We just knew you'd pass," He added, setting her back on the floor, only for her to be hugged again by Sefi.

"We were _so_ worried about you for a minute," She said.

The voice from before began laughing warmly, and said, "I'm so proud of you, dear. Worry not about what your parents will do to you; they won't do anything to either of you. Lunarian blood runs through your veins; if you need help, call on the spirits of those now gone from you to help. Farewell, granddaughters."

"Wait! Come back!" Angel called, running after an unseen presence. "Who are you...?" She asked, in no more than a whisper.

The room deteriorated as suddenly as it had appeared, and the quintet found themselves standing on the mountain top in the bright midday sun.

Porom hesitantly walked up to Angel and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Angel," She said. "Let's get back to _The Enterprise_ and get back to Mysidia."

"Yeah... That sounds good..." Angel said in a tired voice, and she sank to her knees, exausted from her fight and utter confusion over the voice that had addressed her. She felt something warm lift her up off the ground and hold her close. She looked up and saw Palom's face and realized that he was carrying her.

"Let's get you back to civilization before you burn out," He said.

"Alright..." Angel breathed, feeling light headed. She rested her head against his shoulder and fell asleep in an instant.

2222222222

The search party was flying back to Baron after checking Damcyan and Troia, where they thought Red might have told them to go. Cecil and Rosa were hoping that the kids might have returned to Baron, so they were going there.

"Why didn't we check Mount Ordeals when we went to Mysidia?" asked Rydia, who was helping with the search.

"Angel and Sefi are reckless, but they wouldn't go to the mountain without stopping in the nearest town. They're smarter than that," Cecil exlpained, somewhat absent mindedly.

"What if they didn't stop for once?" Rydia asked. Cecil didn't answer. Rydia decided not to press him about it; he had a lot on his mind right now.

Suddenly, Cecil's eyes went wide and he looked more alert than he had in several days.

"Cecil, what's wrong?" Rydia asked, a bit concerned. "We have to get back to Mysidia, now!" He said and ran to Cid, who was steering the airship. "Cid, take us to Mysidia," He directed.

"Why Mysidia? We already looked there and the girls weren't there," Cid said, confused with the situation.

"Something's going on; something... _wrong_," Cecil explained, looking rather distant.

"I feel it too," Rosa said, coming to stand by Cecil. "Get us to Mysidia as fast as you can," She urged.

"But..." Cid started.

"Now," Cecil and Rosa both cut him off.

"Aye aye, captains," Cid said reluctantly, and changed the course from Baron to Mysidia.

"Do you think we'll find the kids in Mysidia?" Edward asked.

"I hope so. But, at any rate, something's happening there; or at least in that area that has to do with our children... particularly Angel..." Cecil trailed off, testing every possible angle of the vibe he felt for something that would tell him more of what was happening. Rosa did the same.

Rydia and Edge watched them; watching the proccess fascinated them to no end. So when Rosa gasped and their eyes shot open, Edge and Rydia were very concerned.

"What is it? What's going on?" Edge asked, racing across the deck.

Without answering, Cecil and Rosa ran back to Cid, and Rosa said, "Cid, don't even stop at the city: go _straight_ to the mountain!"

"What? Why?" Cid demanded.

"Just do it," Cecil commanded. "Something really bad has happened."

Cid sighed. "To Mount Ordeals," He said, and they went off at full speed.

2222222222

Porom warpped everyone to the bottom of the mountain and they hurried to _The Enterprise_. Sefi began shouting out orders to everyone.

"Palom, take Angel downstairs; Porom you go with him and help him. Red, you stay up here and help me get this piece of junk off the ground," She said. The mage twins ran downstairs and Red ran to the steering wheel where Sefi was waiting for her.

"Wanna learn how to drive an airship?" She asked Red. Red's eyes went wide.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yeah. It's easier than falling off a bike. I'll show you," Sefi said, and went to the door that led down to the cabins, where Palom and Porom had taken Angel.

"Hey, down there!" She called. "We're getting ready for take off, so brace yourselves," She warned, and went back to the wheel where Red was wating for that driving lesson.

Only five minutes later found the airship off the ground, with Red at the wheel and Sefi observing from a few feet away. Red was having the time of her life; this was going to be a lot of fun.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Palom and Porom were stuggling with Angel's health. Her fight had rendered her very weak and Porom was having difficulty getting her strength back in check. Though the gash in her side had closed and the pain went away, it hadn't healed completely and had reopened. Porom was doing her best to fix it, but the wound was deep and stuborn and wouldn't answer to her heal spells.

With no bandages around, and need of some, Palom suggested tearing off the bottom half of Angel's long silvery shirt to use. Porom hadn't agreed with the idea at first, but she realized that it was either do or die (litterally) so she had to go with her brother's idea. Palom handed his knife to Porom and she began to cut the fabric. She stopped somewhere below Angel's chest and tore the material off. When she was done, Angel was wearing no more than a midriff tank top. Porom was a bit embarassed to have reduced Angel's amount of clothing so drastically, but it was worth it in the end. The silvery fabric made an ideal bandage; the blood didn't seep through it, and did'n't even leave a stain.

"I _must_ find out how to make this," Porom said when she made these observations.

"How long do you think she'll sleep?" Palom asked, sounding worried.

"She'll probably sleep long into tomorow," Porom guessed, "But there's no way to tell for sure. For all I know she'll wake up in 15 minutes, but that's highly unlikey."

Sefi suddely appeared in the doorway. "Hey, what's going on in here? ...What did you do to Angel's shirt?" She asked.

"I'll explain later. Why aren't you driving the ship?" Porom asked nervously.

"Oh, Red's driving. We want to know how you guys feel about going up to Damcyan and hidding out there for a while," Sefi said.

Palom and Porom looked at each other for a moment, nodded, and Palom said, "Sure. Let's go."

"Great! I'll go tell Red. Take care of Angel, please," She said, and walked away. She would have stayed longer to help with Angel, but she was leery about leaving Red alone at the wheel for too long.

"Damcyan sounds good to them," Sefi announced, surrfacing in the deck.

"Yes! Home again, home again, jiggity jog," Red sang happily and drove on. Sefi was happy that Red was happy. She turned to look back at the mountain they'd just come from. It was begining to get smaller, finally. Sefi wanted to out as much distance between them and Mount Odeals. Then she gasped.

"The elder! Shouldn't we go back and tell him we're alright?" Sefi cried.

"Nuts, you're right! I'll get us turned around," Red said and began turning the wheel.

"No, no no no no no! Wait wait wait! Don't turn around, go sraight onto Damcyan!" Sefi ordered.

"What? Why?" Red asked, confused.

"_That's_ why," Sefi said, pointing to a big brown spot, hoovering in the sky near the mountain.

"It's our parents! They tracked us to the mountain!" Red cried.

"What should I do?" She asked Sefi. Sefi thought for a moment, deciding what to do.

"Drive onto Damcyan. The elder will probably know that we're okay, and we can't get caught by our parents," She instructed. Red obeyed and turned the ship back around.

"How do I get the engines to full balst?" She asked.

"Like this," Sefi said, running over and pulling a lever to the proper setting, and they jetted off, hoping that no one had seen or heard them.

2222222222

An hour later, there came a knock on the elder's door. He ran to open it and saw Cecil and Rosa standing there once more, looking rather cross.

_Uh oh,_ He thought.

"You lied to us," Cecil stated.

"... What are you talking about?" The elder asked.

"You said that Angel and Sefi never came here before," Rosa said. "We _know_ they were on Mount Ordeals, and they wouldn't go up there without checking in with you first; at least Palom and Porom wouldn't."

"...Alright, fine, so I lied. They needed a little time to get up that blasted mountain without you two stalking after them," The elder dismissed and walked away, provoking the king and queen to follow him inside.

"You _helpped_ them go up there?" Cecil asked in dissbelief. "What else have you done recently?" He asked, his temper really starting to go.

"Like I said the other day," The elder said, "I'm sure they're quite capable. I sence that they've even gotten off the mountain and are heading northwest this very minute."

"All that _we_ know is that something went wrong while they were up there, and we'd like to know what," Cecil said.

"That feeling that you and your wife got was Angel, taking the paladin trial... Which she passed," The elder explained. "She's probably just really tired and maybe dinged up a bit, but if Porom's still with them I'm sure that your daughter will be fine."

"But..." Cecil started.

"Your daughter just wants to be like you, you know," The elder cut him off. "She told me herself. Her _real_ dream, I think, is to be like her father. Why not let her? I mean, her father is a good person, rules his kingdom wisely, loves his family, and, to top it off, saved the world once. I don't see the harm in letting her try to be like you," He said.

"Being like me means putting herself in danger that I don't even want to think about. I'm not about to let that happen to her," Cecil explained, hoping that that would be enough to make the elder shut up and realize that he was right.

"I see your point, but still. If she's anything like you, or Rosa, she's not going to listen to reason, or stop to think about her actions, until she either gets what she wants or is forced to listen to what's being said to her. I'm not saying not to try and make her listen, but, once again, if she's anything like you two, I'm sure she can handle whatever comes her way... Especially if she's with friends. And she went off with her sister, Palom, Porom, and that princess who calls herself 'Red'," The elder said.

"That's where we thought she went," Rosa said, sounding annoyed.

"Wait... Did you say they were going northwest a minute ago?" Cecil asked the elder. The elder nodded.

"If you feel around for a vibe, I'm sure you'll see it," He instructed. Cecil and Rosa did as the elder said and, soon enough, they found a vibe. When they thought about it just right, they could picture Sefi and Red driving _The Enterprise_ together, as then the image changed into a castle of dark gray stone in the middle of a yellow sanded desert.

"Damcyan," They blurted out at once.

"_Now_ they decide to go there," Rosa sighed, running her hands through her long, strawberry blonde hair.

"So, you're going after them?" The elder asked.

"We have to," Cecil said, turning to go to the door.

"Not really," The elder said casually. "If I were you, I'd just sit back and wait for them to get back, see how much stronger they've become."

"And you wouldn't do anything to them when they came home?" Rosa asked.

"No... Except for Palom. One has to punish him for _everything_ he does," The elder joked.

"But _I_ want my daughters back before they do something else stupid," Cecil said, walking out the door before the elder could say anything to him.

"Like I said," The elder said to Rosa, "Doesn't stop to listen to reason or think about his actions until he gets what he wants or is made to listen." He laughed and wandered back into the kitchen, where he'd been making a sandwich before the couple showed up.

"Thanks for what little help_ you_ offered," Rosa sarcasticly called after him and ran after Cecil. The elder watched them run down the walk in the courtyard and dissapear around the corner, hoping that Cecil would eventually let lose with Angel.

The two arrived out of breath on their airship, and everyone autimatically crowded around them asking what the buzz was.

"Get out of their way," Rydia said, pushing everyone out of their way. "Give them some air, for pete's sake. So, what happened?" She asked.

"You're all going to kill us, but we need to go back to Damcyan," Cecil explained.

"What?" Egde whined. "But we just got back from Damcyan."

"We know," Rosa said. "It irks us too. But that's where they're going now. We need to catch them."

"So," Cid said, "Set a course northwest?"

Cecil sighed and said, "Yes. Take us back to Damcyan."

"Great. Off we go," Cid said, rubbing his hands together and marching back to the steering wheel.

"Why would they go to Damcyan if they know we'd be checking there?" Alara wondered.

"Maybe they think they can dodge us by hiding under our noses," Rydia suggested.

"Maybe... Perhaps Red just wanted to go home..." Alara mused. Rydia sighed boredly.

"I wonder how Kain's holding down the fort back in Baron," She wondered out loud.

"All that I can say is that he'd better not betray us right now," Edge commented.

"He won't, dear," Rydia said to him. Edge srugged and leaned back against the mast. Although Rydia didn't really blame Edge for being so untrusting in Kain. All that Rydia had ever really known of Kain since she was small was him running off and betraying everyone; even though he had appeared to have strong feelings for Rosa and, for a time, herself. She'd used to hope that those attractions would keep him on the straight and narrow, but, apparently, she had been wrong. Kain was lucky she put so much trust in him; he didn't really deserve any trust from her at all. Edge had never really liked Kain from the start, so he never had any faith in the dragoon coming through for anyone. She hoped as hard she could that Kain was being a good regent while they were away.

The airship lurched and the ground began to fall out from beneath them. Rydia and Alara leaned over the edge of the rail and watched the land begin to zip away below them. Rydia loved airflight; she felt so alive with the wind blowing through her long green hair.

_I hope the kids are alright..._ She thought as the ship sailed across the sea, towards the desert.

222222222

Yeah, I've changed my mind about Kain. He's not with the party, he's serving as regent while Cecil and Rosa are gone.

Also, that moment at the begining, when Palom and Porom hasitated before crossing the bridge: that's where Scarmiglion fought them, Cecil, and Tellah in the game. I wanted to include something like that even though he's not in this story (or _her_, depending on who you are... You know who are you, Canada-Boy... That's not his pen name, I jut like to call him that)

Oh, and that remark that Sefi made about flying an airship being easier than falling off a bike was made by Cid to Edge in the actuall game. Just wanted to point that out.

Well, my brother's screaming at me to get of the computer, so I'd better hurry up. Toodles!


	5. Tragedies in the Desert

Alrighty, I'm back. This is more than likey going to be my last chapter before school starts again, so let's make this one good, shall we?

Also, somewhere in the story, there will be some lines and situations played off of _The Scorpion King_, so that y'all know that it's someone else's work, not mine. The situations and lines just seemed to work so well, so I'm stea... (ahem) _borrowing_ them from the movie. All that I get from watching Egypt movies with my brother late at night...

Onto Damcyan... Something absolutely _horrible_ is about to happen. Several things, actually.

2222222222

Chapter 5: Tragedies in the Desert

2222222222

Red had done a good job of flying the party over the water in the past two days. Now they were over a wide mountain range, with a glittery streak of yellow on the horizion.

"What's that?" Sefi asked, pointing to the yellow line.

"That's the desert I call home," Red said proudly, holding her head higher and puffing out her chest. "Not much of it now, but just wait until you see the rest of it," She said.

"You continue to drive towards it. I'll go tell the others the trip's almost over," Sefi said, heading to the cabins.

On her way down, she ran into Porom. "Hullo, Porom. How's Angel doing?" She asked.

"Much better. That silver cloth her shirt's made of... It's an amazing substance. It not only made a wonderful bandage, but I think it actaully helpped heal her," Porom marveled.

"Huh. How 'bout that," Sefi said, not _as_ impressed as Porom. "Hey, Red says we're closing in on Damcyan," Sefi said brightly.

"We are?" Someone called from the nearest cabin. Sefi looked in the open door and saw Angel, standing by her bed, with Palom holding her up. "How much longer?" She asked eagerly.

"Only a day, maybe," Sefi said.

"Yes!" Angel cheered, but gasped for breath and clutched her side.

Palom steadied her and said, "Try not to exurt to much energy. You're still very weak. If we'd know that your dark half was so powerful, we wouldn't have let you go in."

"I know," Porom added, walking in the door. "Cecil didn't have so much trouble with _his_ dark half. But he was a grown man, and he had quite a bit of experience with a blade; we should have factored that in," She said.

"Oh well," Angel laughed. "I'm here now, aren't I?"

"That you are," Porom said approvingly. "Although that thing on your side is being very tricky to heal. I don't know how much longer it'll be before you can move like that again," She added.

"Just as long as I get better, I'm happy," Angel insisted.

"Sefi! Get up here quick!" Red called, yelling "Ow!" and "Get off!" as Sefi turned and ran back up to the deck.

"What on earth...?" Palom muttered.

"Whatever it is, it doesn't sound good," Porom added, moving closer to Angel, laying a hand on her side, and casting another strong heal spell on the massive wound. There was a scream, followed by the sound of a sword ripping through the air but not hitting anything.

"Palom! Get up here, _now_!" Sefi hollared. The black mage set Angel down on the bed and ran out to see what was going on.

"Cockatrices!" He yelled.

There was a flash of yellow light, meaning that he'd just cast a lightning spell of some kind. The ship pitched violently, sending Porom and Angel to the floor. Porom crawled to the door and braced herself against the door post, trying to pull herself back up, but the ship swayed again and she crashed to the floor again. Palom was trying to steady himself against the door that led to the deck, but was also trying to ward off a large silver bird with blue wings with his little knife.

"Porom! Help me!" He yelled over his shoulder. Porom began muttering under her breath while her brother continued fighting the cockatrice.

"Reflect!" Porom cried, sending a bolt of blue light at Palom.

The cockatrice flinched from the light, but quickly resumed it's attack. It targeted Palom's arm as a decent place to begin pecking him again, but when it's beak tounched his arm there was another bright flash of blue and the bird went spiraling backwards. It squawked and flew away from the ship.

"Thanks," Palom said to Porom, "But I think that Red and Sefi could use a reflect spell too. He pointed at the two girls, fighting off the silver birds on the other side of the deck.

Sefi was having quite a bit of trouble keeping three cockatrices off of her, and Red was failing at managing the ship with two birds hoovering around her. She waved her arm over her head, as a feeble attempt to send the birds away, but the ship pitched again and the birds remained over the mage's head. Porom quickly cast another reflect spell on Sefi and sent those three away, but didn't get to Red in time.

One of the cockatrices pecked her cheeck and she froze in place, slowly turning a dull gray color before everyone's eyes. The ship began dipping dangerously close to the ground

"Red!" Sefi screamed, bringing the attention of Red's former attackers to rest on her. The two birds flew towards Sefi and the two mages at an alarming speed; the three were barely ready to fight the cockatrices when they reached them.

Angel, meanwhile, had been in her cabin, trying to find where Palom and Porom had put her sword. Even if Porom didn't think she could move with much fluidity for a while, she wasn't about to sit and watch helplessly from the sidelines as her firends were locked in battle.

"FuSoYa, help me," She swore in frustration when her sword continued to prove ilussive.

That was when she heard Sefi scream Red's name, and she correctly assumed that something bad had just happened. She undid the silver cloth around her side and looked at the deep wound on her side; it was no more than a scar now. And she felt fine. She cast her miniscule cure spell on herself, uncovered her sword at last, and ran to help the others.

When she appeared in the door, brandishing her sword, the cockotrices took one look at her, screamed with fear, and fled. Angel was surprised; she didn't know that cockatrices were afraid of paladins... But they wouldn't know she was a paladin, would they?

"How did you do that?" Palom asked her.

Angel shrugged and made a vague noise.

"Porom, go heal Red; if you hurry, we might be able to get back into the sky before we crash," Sefi directed.

Porom surged across the deck to Red and began chanting a spell. Palom, Angel and Sefi all ran to the side of the ship and looked over, hoping they were close to the castle.

_Pleeeease, don't be over the mountains,_ Sefi prayed desparately.

Fortunately, Red had sped _The Enterprise_ to it's maximum before she'd been petrified and they were now speeding over the mountain range with a speed that everyone was gratefull for. But at the same time the ship was nearing the land with evey passing minute. They were coming closer to the desert, at last, but it looked like they might still crash into the mountains if Porom didn't finsh healing Red soon.

"Done!" Porom yelled to Sefi, who came running over to take the wheel while Red got herself in check.

"What happened?" Red asked, slightly confused.

"I'll explain later," Sefi said, pushing a few buttons and exhaling as the ship began to climb up into the sky again.

"Yes! We're going to make it to the desert!" She cried, happy with the way things were turning out now. The mountain range ended and the gleaming expanse of the desert began.

Five minutes later, however, the ship made an odd sputtering sound and it was suddenly quiet.

"What just happened?" Porom asked in a nervous voice.

"The engine's stopped!" Sefi said, pushing some more buttons and pulling a lever so hard that everyone was afraid the stick would break off.

"I think we're out of gas," Sefi informed bleakly.

"What does that mean?" Palom asked.

"It means that we're going to crash," Sefi said, fiddling with some more buttons on the dash board.

"What?" Everyone cried at once. The ship began hurtling towards the ground once again, much faster this time.

"Sefi! Come over here!" Porom ordered, and Sefi ran to her.

"Everyone gather around me," She directed, and everyone stood around her. She began chanting a spell, and then cried, "Teleport!"

The vision of the airship began to spin, gruadually shifing into a blur of yellow and blue light. When their vision focused, they were standing in the middle of a hot yellow void. All was silent for a moment; then there was a loud thud somewhere behind them, and when they looked they saw _The Enterprise_ crash into the sand, about a mile away. Half of the hull gave out and fell in splinters on the ground around it.

"Cid's going to kill me," Sefi muttered with a twicth in her eye.

"Well Cid's not here yet," Angel said brightly.

Sefi didn't really register this comment. Her face was still set in a frozen stare in front of her at the reckage of the magnificent airship before them.

"Hey, how are we going to get to Damyan?" Palom asked.

"I could teleport us there," Porom offered. "Stand around me again," She said, and everyone gathered around her once more while she began chanting the teleport spell.

It worked... To some effect. They wound up about two or three miles from a castle of dark gray stone. In front of them lay a flat stretch of sand, followed by some low dunes; all of which they'd have to cross to reach Damcyan castle if Porom didn't teleport again. And she couldn't teleport them again because she was running low on MP and wanted to save some for an emergency.

So, off the party went across the sand. Walking in the unstable sand was a chore, and the burning sun wasn't making things any better. Porom kept an eye on Angel the entire time, worried about how the current conditions would effect her. She seemed fine, but alert to something. As if she could sence an unseen danger of some kind. Remembering that paladins could sence things like this, she asked Angel about it.

"What's wrong?" Porom finally asked her. "

Something's coming, but I don't know what... There's something in the air that just screams danger," Angel explained, having difficulty describing the odd sensation that she felt. "It's like... it's a tingley feeling, like when your foot goes to sleep or when you jump into cold water... Well, maybe not like that, or... I don't know how to say it. I've never felt this way before," She said.

"It sounds like you're catching a vibe of some kind," Palom offered.

"What's a vibe?" Red asked.

"I think it's a feeling, or something. You can tell something's happening by feeling something in the air," Angel said quickly.

"Yeah. Really strong vibes, like anger, are the ones you feel first, but not many people can sence them right away," Sefi added.

"She's right; it's not everyone who can easily feel vibes," Porom said.

"Only skilled white mages and holy warriors can catch them. That might explained why your parents knew you were leaving and went to find you," She said to the twins.

"So, I'm catching a vibe?" Angel asked.

"More than likely. If you focus your mind on that vibe, you should get a mental picture of what it's trying to tell you," Palom directed.

"How do I do that?" Angel asked.

"Just clear you mind of everything but that tingley feeling and it'll come soon enough," Porom assured her.

Angel took a deep breath and set all of her attention on the feeling that the vibe sent all over her body, pushing all her other thoughts out of her head until her mind was a black nothingness. After only a few seconds a picture formed in her mind, blurry at first, and then it cleared. In her mind she saw herself and her friends, standing on the sand, from a distance of half a mile to their left. Coming at them from that direction was a sandworm and a zu. Then, maybe 20 miles to their right, was a fast moving cloud of sand. She let go of the vibe, noting that the tingley feeling was gone, and explained the predicament to her companions.

"There are two monsters coming from that direction," She said, pointing to the left, "And what looks like a sandstorm coming from that direction," She said, pointing to the right.

"At the speed it's moving," She added, "That sandstorm should be here in five minutes, tops."

Before anyone could say anything something screeched and a huge black bird appeared over a nearby dune, followed by a hideous eyeless tube that slinked and dove over the sand like a dolphin stuck to a snake.

"Great; that's all we need," Palom muttered and began chanting an ice spell for the sandworm while everyone else stared work on the zu.

Palom took the sandworm out in one shot, so he then ran to help the others. He was reluctant to use spells, since the zu was moving so quickly and feared his attacks might miss, so the fight was a difficult one. A roaring and sudden highness of wind made everyone stop and look up: the sandstorm had almost reached them. If they didn't take down the zu and take cover fast they'd be in terrible trouble.

Angel surveyed the party: nobody was hurt too badly, but Red looked terrible. Being in the sun, fighing as hard as she could with weapons as well as spells, and wearing her long red mage's robe for so long had taken quite a toll on her. Sweat was pouring down her face, and her eyes looked glassy and far away. She looked dizzy and tired, like she would keel over at any second. The threat of the sandstorm with a monster to beat wasn't helpping either, but then Red got an idea.

"Angel, I've got an idea. Follow me," She said, and began running across the sand.

Angel didn't understand, but she ran after her as fast as her tired legs could carry her. The zu caught sight of them and took chase, leaving Palom, Porom, and Sefi standing where they were.

"We've got to help them," Sefi said, starting to follow Angel and Red, but Palom stopped her.

"Get down," He said nervously, sinking to his knees and dragging Sefi with him. "Whatever you, don't look up," He advised, covering them both with his robe. Neither of them saw, but Porom did the same.

Angel and Red were still having difficulty with the zu, which didn't seem as aware about the sandstorm as they did. As the sandstorm loomed closer than ever, Red yelled to Angel over the wind, "Drop to the ground and brace yourself!" They both fell on the sand and readied thmselves for sharp winds and the lashing sand that would come flying with it. The zu was confused by this, but took the opportunity to try and nab a prize. At that instant though, the wind picked up more than ever, sending the zu tumbbling back. It struggled against the fierce winds without success, and was carried away.

The winds lasted for about 10 minutes, and then it quickly faded into still quietness. When the winds had passed, Palom, Porom, and Sefi all stood again, the mages shaking the sand from their robes.

"That was very clever," Sefi noted, scanning the surrounding area for a trace of her sister and her firend, but the raging winds had left nothing familiar behind. The flat space in front of them was now a small dune, and the spot where they'd last seen Angel and Red was covered in several inches of sand.

"Angel! Where are you?" Sefi called, answered only by her own echo. Sudden movement somehwere ahead of them brought everyone's attention to it, and two things rose out of the sand, one covered in red, the other in white.

"Angel! Red! You beat it!" Sefi cheered, stumbbling clumsily over the dune to them.

"You swated it like a fly!" Palom added, following Sefi and falling face fist into the dune and lowering it's size considerabley.

"Can _nothing_ beat you? You're invinsible!" Porom said to Angel, stepping over what was left of the dune.

"It was nothing," Angel said passively, shaking the sand out of her hair. "And besides, it was Red's idea," She said, looking over at her friend, who now looked worse than ever.

"Red, are you alright?" She asked. Red didn't answer; she swayed back and forth, and put a hand to her head. She whispered something unhearable and fell over. Palom ran over just in time to catch her and ease her to the ground. Gentley he put his hand on her forehead.

"Gad, it's like fire," Taking his hand from her head. Porom knelt beside them and took Red's hand, holding it in her own for a long minute.

"It's desert fever," She informed, looking shocked. "We've got to get her inside, _now_," She said, beckoning Angel and Sefi to come close to her once more for the teleport spell.

2222222222

Damcyan was only a day's flight away for the search party. The parents on board hoped that the kids were okay; Cecil and Rosa hadn't picked up a vibe in days. But if they didn't pick up a vibe then it was a good chance that nothing was going on, so they hoped that it would sty that way.

"Would they go and hide out in the castle?" Rosa asked Edward.

"There's a shrine a mile away from the castle. They'd probably go there," Edward explained.

"But if they aren't there, then I'd suggest combing carefully through the staff. Red's a master of disguise, and can blend into any crowd. She can disguise others just as well too, so I suppose that we'll have to be on our toes," He added, turning to see how much closer to the desert they were.

Rosa made an unhappy sound and frowned deeply. Why did kids have to be so deviously clever these days?

She gasped and Edward turned to face her again.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"There's a vibe..." She said, focusing on the feeling. Edward looked around for Cecil, and saw him leaning against the rail with the same vagure expression that Rosa wore.

When Rosa snapped out of her trance-like state she looked pale and worried.

"Rosa, what happened?" Edward asked.

"You won't like it," Rosa said. "It was about _Red_ this time."

2222222222

"Now, how did I know that _this_ was back here?" Porom wondered out loud when all vision stablized and the party found themselves in front of a big, stone, two story building with a heavy looking wooden door, and seeing that it was a ways behind the actual castle.

"Who cares? You brought us here, didn't you?" Palom said, standing back up and carrying Red to the door.

Angel ran to open the door, bracing herself for a push, but the door swung open without help.

_Well, that's convenient,_ Sefi thought, following Angel into the building.

Inside it dark, chilly, and a little damp. Two sets of stairs spiraled around a pair of columns on the other wall and led up to the second story. In between the stairs was another wooden door. This time Porom ran over and opened the door, which led into a large room with a table and a chair against the left wall, and empty cabinet on the right wall, a tapestry on the far wall, and some primitive looking carvings and paintings in red and black paint on all four of the walls. Unfortunately, there did not seem to be a bed and the table was too small for Red to fit on. So Porom walked to the center of the room and spread her long red cloak on the ground, taking note of the red, dark blue, and black stones which made a pretty circular patern on the floor.

"Put her here," She said to her brother, putting her hand down by the cloak. Palom layed Red down and felt her forehead again.

"No change, even in here," He said bleakly, shivering from the cool dampness.

"Perhaps we should take her robe off," Angel suggested.

Porom nodded and untied the sash around Red's middle. "I can't believe she lasted as long as she did in this thing," She murmmered. "It's too warm to wear in this climate; especially for a fire mage." She opened Red's robe, leaving the princess wearing a thin-strapped, berry colored dress that reached her knees, and carefully slipped her arms out, feeling how hot the rest of body was; and not very pleased by a puff of steam that rose from the robe.

"Who would make something like this for one who has such a lifestyle?" She demanded.

"The elder says to vent your wrath in a productive way," Palom reminded his sister, sencing that she was about to go into a rant.

Porom sighed angrily and began chanting a heal spell for Red. Palom turned to Angel and Sefi, who were looking at the glyphs on the walls, and asked hopefully, "I heard your mother had desert fever once. Do you know the cure?"

The twins looked at him saddly ad said, "No," at the same time.

"Surprisingly, they've kept a lot of details about their adventures secret from us," Angel said dryly, running her hand over the carvings.

When Porom was done with the cure spell, Palom asked her, "Do you know the cure?"

"Oh, how I wish I did..." She said, hanging her head.

"Hey, look at this," Sefi said, pointing to a glyph depicting a woman who held a hand to her head. The next glyph showed the same woman, falling to the ground with signs over her head that showed she was dizzy. The next glyph showed her with red skin, sleeping what looked like a very deep sleep.

"She must be quite uncomfortable," Palom mused once he'd come over and looked at the glyphs. "She appears to be dizzy and, if I'm correct, the red skin indicates that she's either very hot or has a fever," He added.

"How do you know that?" Angel asked.

"I've studied glyphs before. I know how to read some of their many, _many_ forms," Palom explained. "This one looks to be one of the simpler of these forms," He added.

He traced the glyphs with his finger, as if he was reading a book. The glyphs now showed the same woman, lying on her back, with someone who looked to be a healer of some kind. In her hand, the healer held up a red dot over the sick woman. At the end of the painted story the woman was standing again, her face and skin of black paint again, showing that her faver had gone. That section of glyphs ended with a detailed painting of a strange red gem with many odd angles. Markings, which looked to be letters of a long dead language, surronded the gem. But Palom explained saddly that he wasn't versed in this tongue.

"Porom, do you think that you can read it?" He asked.

"I hope so," She said, leaving Red on the floor to examine the letters on the wall. She was silent for many minutes, and then finally announced, "It's one of the ancient Damciani texts. Luckliy, I do know it." A sigh of relief rose up from everyone else, and Porom read the words on the wall:

"'The ruby which cures the face heat is found where the sand lion resides. Seek it to make cool the body that burns.'"

"What they call the 'face heat' must be a fever," Palom guessed.

"This ruby that they speak of... It could be the supposed sand ruby. I know little of it (this kingdom has kept many secrets to itself), but it seems that the ruby is the cure for the fever. And all that I know of the cave is that it's full of bugs," Porom said, continuing to read the wall.

"Oh..." She said saddly, continuing to read, "Only Damciani royals are allowed inside."

"So what do we do?" Sefi asked.

There was a silence while they tried to think of a solution.

"...I think that the rules can be pulled, just this once," Palom reasoned.

"Whever you say 'just this once'," Porom pointed out, "It's _never_ just this once."

Palom gave her a maddening grin, and said, "I'll go to the cave and bring back the ruby. You three stay here and do what you can for Red." He started for the door, but Angel ran after him.

"I'm going with you," She stated.

"What?" He asked, surprised.

"But, Angel," Sefi pointed out from across the room, "You hate bugs."

Angel turned back to Sefi and said, "I told the elder that I wanted to make a difference with my new powers, and, by gum, I going to make a difference," She turned back to Palom and added, "And besides, it's my job to help those who need me. If Red needs this ruby thing, I'm going to help get it."

She'd expected Palom to tell her to stay back, but instead he grinned at her and said, "Sure. I could use the help of a paladin; and I'm sure that you could use the practice."

"Be careful; _both_ of you," Sefi said to them before they walked out the door.

"I can only keep Red alive for so long," Porom warned them. "Get the ruby as fast as you can and run back."

"We'll be back soon, I promise," Palom said, walking back to Red, removing his own robe, and laying it over her like a blanket. "You're the best white mage of your age," He said to Porom. "I'm sure you can keep her alive that long."

"Only if I don't run out of MP for two days. It's already dipping from the trip here," Porom said quickly. "You and Angel go. We'll still be here when you get back."

Without one more word, or even a backward glance, Palom and Angel rushed out the door.

222222222

Ah, so... Off to get the cure for Red's desert fever. Ya still got clean trousers?... 'Cause it ain't over yet! ("Ask a Ninja" reference. Check it out; it's insanely funny!)

Well, more stuff's about to happen, so I guess I've gotta get to work. A reunion, a dangerous flight home, and the death of a beloved party member await... Stay tuned!


	6. The Praise of Parents

Okay, okay, so it _wasn't_ my last chapter before school started; I didn't know how much time I had left. School starts _NEXT_ week, so I have way more time than I thought I did. One more chapter or two, so let's get this party started.

Once again, we're skipping the long, hot, boring treck across the desert, and skipping to Palom and Angel, standing outside Antlion Cave.

222222222

Chapter 6: The Praise of Parents

222222222

Palom and Angel, dripping wet from their swim across the shallows, stood at the entrance to the cave of the creature the glyphs called the "Sand Lion", known more commonly as the Antlion, while Angel gathered her nerves.

"You can always go back to the shrine, you know," Palom told her.

"I'm not going to go back. Red needs my help, and I'm going give it to her," Angel informed stoutly.

"But you seem nervous. And Sefi said that you don't like bugs," Palom pointed out. Angel shivered.

"I _hate_ bugs with a passion. They're so creepy!" She said.

"And yet you're willing to go in and get the sand ruby from a creature called an _Ant_lion?" Palom asked, pretty impressed with Angel's choice of actions (although he couldn't help but wonder if she felt dragged into it and had no choice because she was now a paladin).

Angel took a deep breath and said, "Red needs the ruby, so I want to help get it. Besides, you'll probably need the help, and I need the practice: everyone wins."

"You sound like you're trying to reassure yourself," Palom joked.

"Oh, do I?" Angel asked sarcastically.

"Hey, come on," Palom said, taking a few steps forward. "It'll be a sinch. I mean, just go through a cave, beat a giant bug, get a ruby, and get back out. How hard could it be?" He asked.

"All that, yeah, I can handle it; it's the giant bug I can't do," Angel said.

"Look, you don't even have to fight the stupid thing. I'll fight it while you watch, if it makes you feel better," Palom offered.

"Say what? I'm not gonna let _you_ do all the work, you little squid!"" Angel insisted, and ran into the cave.

"Aha! Now _that's_ the spirit," Palom said, rubbing his hands together, and following Angel into the cave.

2222222222

Back at the shrine, Sefi was studying the various other glyphs on the walls, wondering what some of the maladies and their cures were since she couldn't read them herself. Some, like a headache, stomachache, and cold, were easy to figure out. But others were very tricky to decode.

"Porom, do you think there's a cure for pride?" She asked, thinking that the glyph showing a very lovely woman in front of some rather plain looking women, seemingly showing off her beauty and grace to them, showed a pridefull person.

Porom walked over to inspect the pictures, and read the words written there. She scanned the words quickly, and said, "It says that the cure for blindness was discovered by his old Damciani queen who was called Miria the Beautiful. It says that she was also a most humble person; very kind, and very wise. She was apparently the first ruler of Damcyan to be a mage of any kind, and she was a white mage. She inveted the potion 'eyedrops' when the zus in the area kept blinding the people."

"Oh. I've got to study launguages sometime," Sefi said. "I suppose I should also learn some magic too."

"You should also practice with your sword. Magic is a great asset, but, if you come to depend on it too heavily, it can be a weakness. It's always a good thing to have a good weapon on hand if you're a magic user," Porom explained.

"That makes sence," Sefi said quietly, unsheathing her sword and swinging it about expertly. "I'll just begin practicing, then," She said, continuing to swing the sword around. Red stirred suddenly and Porom ran back to her side.

Porom felt Red's forehead, hoping the fever had gone down in the past two minutes, but the heat had remained the same. She sighed heavily, and casted a light heal spell on Red, wanting to make her MP stretch over the next two days.

Red's eyes fluttered open and she graoned. "I don't feel so well," She said softly.

"I know," Porom said, petting Red's head.

"Are we at the castle?" Red asked.

"No; I teleported again and we wound up a mile away from the castle, so we're staying in this convenient little shrine," Porom explained.

"Where are the others?" Red asked.

"I'm over here," Sefi said, coming to kneel by Red's side.

"Where are Palom and Angel?" Red asked.

"They left a few hours ago, to find the sand ruby that will cure you," Sefi said.

"The sand ruby? Why the sand ruby?" Red asked, confused.

"You have desert fever. You fainted after the sandstorm," Porom informed the princess.

"Oh great," Red sighed.

"Don't worry about it," Porom suggested. "You just go back to sleep. Palom and Angel should be back with the ruby in two days or less. You just get some rest," She directed. Red drowsily nodded her head, shut her eyes, and slipped back into the black delerium of a dreamless sleep.

"I hope they're alright..." Porom said with another big sigh.

"I'm sure they'll be fine. My sister and your brother put together can't be very easy to beat," Sefi said.

"They'd better not be easy to defeat," Porom said crisply. "I don't know how much longer I can keep healing Red, even on a small scale. If all my MP goes, the fever could take Red before they get back."

2222222222

"Oh snap!" Angel cried when she and Palom reached the Antlion's den and the creature popped up out of a deep whole in the floor. Palom noticed that Angel paled, and looked like she might even faint, but she stayed on her feet brandishing her sword.

"You can sit this one out if you'd like," Palom said to her. Angel shook she head definantly.

"I didn't come all the way here to run and hide," She insisted.

The Antlion roared and charged at them. Angel screamed, but she didn't run either.

"Think fast!" Palom yelled at her, and pushed her out of the Antlion's way as it crashed down heavily next to him. Palom thrust his knife into the Antlion's back, but it didn't seem to do much good. The monster roared in pain, and turned to attack Palom as hard as it could. He quickly began casting a spell, and hit the Antlion with a fire spell. It did some damage, but not a ton. He then cast a blizzard spell but it didn't do much damage either. Finally he decided that putting the monster to sleep would be easier than killing it, and rooted around in his pack for sleepgrass.

The sleepgrass had a very strong and bitter scent; just holding the glass jar that the tuft was stored in made Palom sleepy. So he held his breath, opened the jar, and set it on the floor. The monster charged again, but the bitter smell of the sleepgrass kept it from getting too close to the mage. It staggered, sneezed heavily, and fell on it's side, breathing steadily. Palom recapped the sleepgrass vile, put it back in his bag, and looked around for Angel.

_Gad, I hope she's alright_, he thought.

A sudden movement nearby made Palom turn to look, and he saw Angel clawing her way out of the whole from which the Antlion had come. He ran over to help her out, and saw that she was holding a bright red jewel with many irregular angles in one hand.

"Angel, is that...?" He asked, astounded.

Angel nodded, grinning widely. "I ducked down while you were fighting the monster and found a whole store of these things. I grabbed a few more too," She explained.

"Well then," Palom said cheerfully, dragging Angel onto her feet, "I think our work here's pretty much done. Let's git back to the shrine before Red fades."

They walked back towards the exit, but Palom stopped by the Antlion's sleeping body and drew his knife from it's back. "Wouldn't want to walk back home without a weapon," He said. "Even one as puny as my trusty knife," He added lovingly to the blade, resheathing it in his belt buckle.

"Now let's get out of here," Angel said eagerly, and made a beeline for the exit.

2222222222

The next day, Palom and Angel burst into the shrine, Angel with the sand ruby in hand. She was all a buzz with excitement. They'd claimed the sand ruby and made it back with plenty of time to cure Red. Red was going to be well again; Red was going to make it!

"Porom! Sefi! Red! We're back!" Angel shouted, bolting across the room to the closed door on the other wall. "We got it! We got the sand ruby!" Palom added, feeling a little dizzy from excitement himself. Angel reached the door a second efore Palom and wrenched it open, expecting a very happy reunion with her sister and friends.

But what she got was much different. She walked in the room before she quite knew she was moving, and found a scary surprise awaiting her. Porom, Sefi, and Red weren't the only people in the room: Edward, Alara, Cecil, and Rosa were all there too.

Angel's eyes went wide and she made a tiny sound that boardered in a squeak. She clutched the sand ruby in her hand so hard that she thought it would break, and she took a nervous step back, afraid of what her parents, especially her father, would do to her. She didn't really register that anyone but Cecil was looking at her. He looked tired and worried, and she couldn't look away from him. He rose and took a step towards her, but Palom stepped in front of her, ready to sheild her from Cecil's impending wrath.

"None of this was Angel's fault," He insisted. "In fact, running away was all _my_ idea. I suggested it and talked the others into it," He lied. "Just don't do anything to Angel."

Cecil didn't seem to hear what Palom had said. He moved Palom out of the way and looked his shaking daughter over carefully. She looked like she was ready to cry from fear and guilt for making her parents worry so much about her. She couldn't even say anything.

With a gentleness and calm that took Angel by surprise, Cecil took her hand; the one that carried the sand ruby, and held it in his own.

"_You_ got this?" He asked, seemlingly unable to believe it.

Angel still couldn't say anything, but she nodded. Suddenly she began talking rapidly, like she couldn't stop.

"I didn't fight the monster, Palom did. I just ran and I got the ruby. I just wanted to help Red. I didn't mean to... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." She said, hanging her head as a tear rolled down her face. After all that had happened in the past week she didn't really want anyone to see her crying.

"It doesn't matter right now," Cecil assured her, cupping her chin in his hand and raising her head up until he could look into her pale blue eyes, which were still glassy with unshed tears. "What matters now is that you got the ruby, and you can heal Red now. Come over here," He said, leading her to Red's side. Angel kneeled down beside her friend, unsure of what to do. She looked up at Cecil and Edward, silently asking them how to use the ruby.

"Hold it in her hand and just watch," Edward instructed. Angel picked up Red's hand and set the ruby in her palm, closing her fingers around it. Angel waited for a moment, waiting for something to happen. She felt someone at her side, and looked up to see Rosa kneeling beside her.

"It will work, baby," She said so softly that only Angel could hear, and put her arm around her child's shoulders. "Just wait for it."

The ruby began to glow dull red at the middle. It ebbed away and Angel felt a flutter of panic, but the glow started again. It went on in this way for about five seconds, beating like a pulse, a little faster each time. Then, all at once, the beat stopped and shone beams of red all around the room; so bright that everyone had sheild their eyes. When they all looked again, the red glow had spread down Red's arm, over her chest, neck and face, and down her legs. Red's breathing, which had been rattley and offbeat before, quickly cleared and became even again. Despite the the burning the light caused in Angel's hand, she could feel the heat of the fever leaving Red's hand like a wave leaving the shore. Red's light green eyes suddenly flew open and she sat up, panting heavily, as if she'd just woken up from a bad dream.

"Were... What... Why...?" She stammered as the red glow faded from the ruby. She looked a bit shocked and nervous because her parents were there and she, too, was afraid they'd hurt her. But that though evaporated quickly when Edward and Alara dropped to their kees beside her and embraced her.

"Thank the stars, you're alright," Alara whispered, too happy to say anything else.

Edward looked up at Angel and said, with tears in his eyes, "Thank you. Thank you _so_ much." Angel grinned broadly, once again at a loss for words, but radiating pride in herself and relief that Red was well again.

Rosa helpped Angel stand back up. Angel winced, feeling a sharp pain in her side that hadn't been there before, and sent a hand to her side.

"Angel are you okay?" Rosa asked, somewhat forcedly moving Angel's hand out of the way. She gasped and demanded, "Where did _that_ come from?" meaning the scar on her side from her paladin trial.

"It's nothing, I promise," Angel said, hoping that Rosa would lay off the matter.

"I'd still like to know what happened," Rosa said, having not gotten the answer she wanted. Angel blushed and let her eyes wander to the empty ceiling.

"Battle scars, from the trial," Cecil guessed, moving to stand closer to Angel. "They take a long time to really heal, believe me," He said, eyeing her with happiness and... was that a touch of pride?

Angel pushed that notion out of her mind and put her hand back over the scar.

"It's really nothing. I should just be more careful when I'm getting up, I suppose," She insisted.

"I don't get it," Palom sid from acros the room. "It didn't hurt like that at any point in the cave, and it should have done something at many of those points..."

"Well, now she knows to be careful," Sefi pointed out to him.

"And at least it didn't hurt when she couldn't afford pain like that." Palom nodded, seeing her valid point.

"And I'd expect it to twinge from time to time for a while," Porom added. "I hesitate to believe that things like that will just heal and go away that easily."

"Oh don't worry," Angel said to her. "I'll be fine."

"Yeah," Red said from the floor. "If anyone in this room's going to be okay it's going to be you." She sounded like she was going to add more, but she began coughing and couldn't continue.

"Sush now, dear," Edward instructed, lifting Red from the floor and carrying her to the door. "You'll never fully recover if you keep talking," He said.

"But I feel fine," Red protested.

"You won't be better until tomorow. Try to sleep, alright?" Edward said to her. She still wasn't quite convinced, but she agreed with a yawn and a rasppy cough.

"We should get her into the castle and let her rest," Alara said, standing back up and going to stand with her husband and daughter. "Thank you all, for of your help," She said over her shoulder to the two sets of twins before she and Edward walked out of the door.

"I sure hope that Red'll be alright," Sefi murmmered.

"Don't worry," Rosa said. "The after cough of the desert fever lasts only a day, if one rests well enough. I'm sure she'll be fine in the morning."

"Ah... Thank goodness," Porom said, standing up from where she'd been sitting on the floor. "I think I might still have enough MP left to teleport Palom and myself home. I believe that we've overstayed our welcome." She turned to her brother and asked, "Ready to go home, Palom?"

"For once, I can't wait to be home. Let's go!" Was his reply. They went and stood in the middle of the room, joined hands and Porom began chanting the teleport spell.

"Teleport!" Porom said sharply and their images began to fade, leaving the Baron royalty alone in the shrine.

"Speaking of overstayed welcomes, I think we should be getting home now ourselves," Cecil said, leading the way back to the door.

"So, at last, we're going back home," Sefi whispered to Angel as they walked into the blazing sunshine.

"I'm glad to be going home; if I knew that our little trip to Mysidia was going to be so eventfull I'd have stayed at home and forgotten the whole thing," Angel said.

"And have you noticed?" Sefi asked. "Noticed what?" Angel inquired. "That voice we heard on Mount Ordeals was right: we didn't get into any trouble," Sefi said.

2222222222

An airship was waiting on the other side of the castle to take them back to Baron. Sefi could see (and hear) Cid arguing with Edge on the deck and froze up.

"_The Enterprise_ crashed and fell apart! Cid's gonna beat the tar out of me!" Sefi squeaked.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Cecil said, putting his arm around her shoulder and moving her forward. "It's going to be alright," He added when she hestitated before moving.

"Is he mad about the ship?" Sefi asked, knowing that he surely saw it's wreckage in the desert/

"He was pretty angry when he saw it, but he was too worried that you five had died in that crash for it to matter that much. If he's angry at you for anything, he's angry that you scared him so bad," Cecil said, feeling Sefi relax a little bit.

Apparently, everyone on the ship had been so wrapped up in Cid and Edge's argument that their coming went completely un-noticed. The only other person on board was Rydia, and she always enjoyed listening to the two men arguing.

"I don't care what you heard from Kain or anyone else: I _did't_ help the kids out of the castle," Edge said, for what he thought was the thousandth time since last night.

"You'd have done it though, I know it," Cid answered sharply.

"Everyone knows that listening to what Kain says is a bad idea. You shouldn't believe much of what he says," Edge said.

"You're just saying that because you don't like him," Cid pointed out.

"It's true, you know," Rydia put in.

"Why do you _always_ defend the ninja?" Cid demanded, and stormed away.

"Uh... Because I'm his wife?" Rydia suggested.

"And we both feel the same way about Kain," Edge added quietly to her, reaching for her hand.

"So, what are you arguing about this time?" Someone asked behind them. They all looked and saw Cecil leaning on the rail, arms crossed and grinning smuggly at them.

"At last, you're back!" Cid said happily, striding over to the king. "I take it from that smile that you found them?" He asked hopefully.

"Down there," Cecil said, nodding toward the gangplank.

Cid looked over the railing and saw Rosa and Angel trying to get Sefi to go up onto the deck. He aslo heard Sefi make a squeak-like sound and dart behind behind Rosa when she saw him. Angel gave her sister a disgusted glare and ran up the gangplank as fast as she could.

When she reached the deck Cid stopped her and ran his eyes over her quickly.

"You look different, girl. What happened to you?" He asked. Angel blushed, and didn't say anything.

"Hey, nice scar," Edge said, also noting her side. "Where'd that come from? It's pretty heavy for a princess, ain't it?" He said.

"I... I took the paladin trial. I thought you'd have known that," Angel explained, slowly and meekly.

"We breifly forgot about that part when Rosa said that Red was sick," Rydia explained. "Is she alright?"

"Red's fine. Palom and I got the sand ruby for her," Angel said proudly.

"You faced the _Antlion_?" Cid and Rydia asked at the same time, both aware of her deep fear of insects.

"And you came back sane?" Rydia asked, thinking that a trip through so many bugs would have scared Angel into insanity. She knew the cave; she'd gone into it once before: really, the only kind of monsters in the cave were bug-like atrosities that would scar someone with insectaphobia for life.

"I think so. It surprises me too," Angel said, still sounding very proud of her accomplishment.

Cid leaned over the railing again and said, "I notice that neither of the mages or Red are here."

"Edward and Alara took Red back to the castle so she can finish recovering from the fever. Palom and Porom teleported themselfves back to Mysidia," Cecil explained. "Therefore, our return party will be somewhat smaller than we'd anticipated," He added.

"Cecil, Sefi's refusing to get on the ship," Rosa yelled. "Help me, please."

"Why wouldn't she get on board?" Rydia asked, confused.

"She's worried that Cid will hurt her for wrecking _The Enterprise_," Cecil said, sounding vexed.

Cid leaned over the rail and called to her, "Sefi, come up here. I'm not going to hurt you; I promise."

Sefi looked up over Rosa's shoulder (where she was still hiding) and looked at him hesitantly.

"It's alright. Now go up there and stop making such a fuss," Rosa ordered impatiently. Sefi quickly darted out from behind her and ran up the gangplank with Rosa close behind her.

Sefi skidded to a halt on the gangplank before stepping cautiously onto the deck like a scared kitten.

"I see that you've learned to fear my wrath," Cid said to her sternly. Sefi's stomach did a flip-flop and she paled, frightened of what might be coming. To her surprise, Cid stepped up to her and hugged her tightly.

"If you ever worry me like that again, you _will_ come to regret it," He threatened.

"Yes sir," She said in a squeaky voice, caught very off guard by this.

"Now," He said, releasing Sefi, "Let's get back to Baron, shall we?" And he headed for the wheel.

"You see?" Cecil asked Sefi. "What did I tell you? He didn't even mention the airship."

"Oh, speaking of which," Cid said from the wheel as he was starting the engines, "I _will_ be wanting a new ship built to replace _The Enterprise_. You will be assisting me with that when we get back to Baron, you understand?" He said to Sefi. Her eyes went wide, and her jaw dropped.

"Really?" She asked excitedly.

"Yep, but in the meantime, why don't _you_ fly us back home?" Cid asked. Sefi blinked twice.

"But I crashed your favorite airship. Why would you want me to..."

"Ya ran out of gas, didn't you?" Cid asked as the airship lifted from the ground.

"Well, yes," Sefi said slowly.

"Then it was a problem with the airship, not the driver; get over here now," He demanded.

"Yes sir," Sefi said obediantly and raced over to the wheel.

"So," Rosa said, turning to Angel, "I expect there will be no more complaining when we get home?"

Angel shook her head. "I don't think so," She said.

"Well, you're a paladin now, aren't you? What more do you want?" Cecil asked.

"I still don't want to be queen," Angel said, and walked over to see what Sefi was doing before her parents could say anything to her about it.

"So, we're all happy. Palom and Porom got out for the first time in many years, Red lived a little more than she probably wanted, you're a paladin, I'm going to be hanging around airships for the better part of the year and starting secret dark knight lessons (I hope), and we've all come back alive and good friends," Sefi said, pushing some buttons on the dashboard. "I think that concludes our adventure quite nicely, don't you agree?"

"Maybe," Angel said dreamily. "There's still one more thing that I want."

"Oh really?" Sefi asked. "What's that?"

"I want to stay a princess, and let _you_ be the queen. If I become the queen, my two month reign will conclude with the entire city burning to the ground."

2222222222

A little later, Angel was standing by herself, looking over the railing at the landscape zipping below her, wondering how she'd ever manage ruling an entire country.

"You seem upset," Cecil said, coming to stand by her. "What you said earlier, about not being queen, I know how much you hate it that the responsibility falls on you. I wish that I could do something about it, but I can't."

Angel looked up at him and asked, "You can't?"

Cecil laughed quietly. "Even kings and queens have rules that they must follow... Or get in big trouble," He explained.

"We just can't be free, can we," Angel said, a laugh in her own voice.

"Child, you bring me joy," Cecil said, messing up Angel's hair.

Angel sighed and smoothed down her hair. "I don't think I'll make a very good queen," She admitted. "If I'm in charge of anything I screw it up. Badly. I can't even go on an adventure as a _paladin_ without my best friend getting fatally ill and turned to stone and having Cid's favorite airship wrecked."

"But you all survived the crash, I see," Cecil pointed out. "And you were able to get the sand ruby that cured Red."

"I didn't even fight the thing: I ran into it's den to hide and stumbled onto the ruby. That was a coward's luck," Angel explained glumly, starting to sulk.

Cecil put his arm around Angel's shoulder and kissed the top of her head. "For a first attempt you did very well. You got the ruby, didn't you?" He said, trying to bring her spirits back up.

"All this past week aside, and back on the subject of your queenship, I don't think that Baron will burn to the ground two months into your reign."

"Oh... You heard that?" Angel asked, slightly embarassed.

"You _really _thought that I'd miss a comment like that?" Cecil asked.

"Yeah, I guess you wouldn't," Angel agreed, resting her head on Cecil's shoulder. She suddenly felt safer and happier than she'd felt in days. Even when Palom and Porom hardly ever left her side while she was recovering, it wasn't the same.

_I'm not leaving home ever again. Not if it means giving _this_ up_, She thought.

An icey tingle rose up all over her body, making she shiver. She felt Cecil tense up and realized that it must be another vibe. She focused on the feeling and found, in her mind, a picture of a huge flock of cockatrices and a zu coming at them from the east.

"Get ready to fight; we've got company appraoching from that direction," Cecil directed, pointing to the east, where the flock of deadly birds could already be seen heading towards them at a fast speed. Angel drew her sword from it's sheath and blinked when it glinted in her eyes.

"Wow. Nice sword," Cecil commented, seeing the blade for the first time.

"Thanks. I like it too," She said, admiring it's sliver blade and beautifully carved gold hilt for the first real time.

The flock was upon them in seconds. All that could be seen for feet in any direction were feathers and the bright flash of swords in the sun. The only sounds that broke through the loud cries of outraged cockatrices was the sharp crack of Rydia's whip, sailing through the air and never missing it's target. Even the sound of swinging swords was drowned in the din.

Since no one could see through the crowd of silver and blue featers, they couldn't see what was coming either. A loud screech sounded over the squawks of the cockatrices, and the flock scattered like mice flee from a cat. Once they were out of the way, the foreseen zu came out of the members of the flock who'd lingered too long. He came so fast that there was no warning.

Edge and Rydia yelped; they were the first things the zu saw, and was now looking at them in a way that was very unsettling. Plus they were backed up against the side of the ship and had nowhere to run to.

"Hey, you! Over here!" Angel yelled, trying to get the zu's attention on something a little more on gurad to fight. The zu looked back at her for a moment and then swept it's tail under her feet, knocking her to the ground. Rosa began peltting the thing with her arrows, but got similar results. Cecil and Sefi would have taken the distraction to run around to the bird's front to help Edge and Rydia, but the zu's wings were spread out wide and no one could get past them. And so, as you can see, Edge and Rydia were on their own.

The zu screeched and charged at Edge, but something lashed around it's beack and yanked his head away. The zu looked over and saw Rydia, holding his beak by her whip. Outraged by this, the zu pulled his head over, dragging Rydia across the deck to him (from her safer and more defensive position into his danger zone) and knocked the top of his head into her chest. She staggered back, wind lost from the impact, and the zu kicked her so hard that she flew through the air and hit the mast of the ship heavily and fell limp on the ground.

Now that the zu was distracted, Edge ran up to it (silent but deadly; you know how ninjas are) and sliced into the zu's neck. It screeched louder than ever and flew off in pain. In another instant, the airship thumpped and everyone realized that Sefi had landed the ship.

"Is something wrong?" Cecil asked, wondering why they'd landed.

"Everything's fine," Sefi assured him. "I just thought that maybe we should regroup. And besides: I'm tired."

Angel picked herself up off the ground and sat back on her knees, giggling.

"That was actually kinda fun, except for when I fell down," She said as Cecil hauled her to her feet.

"Good fighting. I see you've been practicing," He noted.

_Alright, that's _got_ to be pride he's looking at me with this time_, She thought. While Cecil went over to help Rosa up, Angel walked over to Rydia, who appeared to have been knocked unconsious in her encounter with the zu.

"Rydia, come on and get up. The fight's over," Angel said, but nothing happened.

_Doy, she's unconsious_, Angel though and knelt down beside Rydia, shaking her shoulder.

"Rydi, wake up," She asked again, and still getting no result. "Rydia, _wake up_," She demanded, but the summoner didn't even stirr. Edge was on his knees next to her before she could blink, sending a shiver down her spine.

_I hate it when he does that_, Angel thought.

"Honey, wake up. The zu's gone," He said, taking her hand. He made a face and said, "Her hand feels like ice."

"Rydia..." Angel said nervously, taking Rydia's pulse. Her eyes went wide.

"Mom! Come over here quick!" She yelled.

"What's going on?" Rosa asked, running over.

"Rydia's got no pulse," Angel explained.

"What?" Edge demanded, cautiously running his hand over Rydia's heart.

"No heart beat either..." He said, beining to panic.

"Edge, calm down and let me do a life spell," Rosa said, obviously trying not to show how worried _she_ was, and began chanting the life spell. She casted the spell as quickly as she possibley could, and waited ridgedly for Rydia to open her eyes. A minute passed and nothing happened. Another minute passed and still nothing happened.

"Rydia, _please_ wake up," Angel pleaded, feeling new tears spring up into her eyes.

_If you don't wake up, what will we do?_ Angel thought. _What will _Edge_ do without you?_ She thought as a first tear slipped down her cheek. _You can't die. You just _can't.

2222222222

Another chapter coming right up. Possibley my last regular update before high school starts, so let's make _this_ one good.

One more terrble thing is about to happen, but do not worry: everything ends much better than it looks right now. Promise! Don't flame me because Rydia just died.


	7. The Life Spark

Things just got interesting, no? Well it's about to get even more exciting! Our dear Rydia has left this world... Someone else might have to leave too, in order to bring her back! (duh-duh-duuuh...)

2222222222

Chapter 7: The Life Spark

2222222222

"I don't understand..." Rosa fretted. "She should have woken up by now."

"Well why hasn't she?" Edge demanded.

"I don't know," Rosa said, shrinking away from him.

"But you _have _to bring her back! Please!" He begged her.

"I can't so anything more for her, Edge. I'm sorry," Rosa whimpered, cowering from him.

"No! That can't be... It can't..." Edge cried, craddling Rydia's limp body in his arms. "It's not fair... You can't go," He whispered. "Don't leave me like this."

Angel stood and strode away. She couldn't bear to see the ninja like this. It made her stomach roll to even picture Edge like this.

_Think, Angel, think_, She thought. _There must be _some_ way to bring her back... Think think think!_ Nothing came to mind for what seemed like a long time. And then she got an idea.

"Mom, what about the life spark?" She asked.

"No one here can preform it, Angel," Rosa said saddly.

"The life spark? What is it?" Edge asked hopefully.

"It's where, instead of just calling on elemental force to heal, you actually give the hurt person some of your own life; how much you gives depends on how long you make the spell last. Enough of this spell can re-spark a dead person's life, even. But only begining white mages can successfully preform it, beacause they can easily lose control of what they're calling on," Rosa explained. "It's a brilliant idea, dear," She said to Angel, "But we don't have any begining white mages around."

"Yes, we do," Angel said. Everyone looked at her questioningly.

"You've got _me_."

"What... No! Absolutely not!" Rosa screeched, rising to her feet and walking over to Angel. "I _forrbid_ you to preform the life spark."

"Mom, I have to do this," Angel protested.

"Angel, do you know how much of your life it take just to re-spark Rydia's life? It would take _all_ of your life just to give her a spark!" Rosa explained, but Angel diodn't seem persuaded in the least by this.

"Uh... What exactly does that mean?" Sefi asked nervously, not liking where this was going.

"It means," Angel said to her twin, "That in doing this for Rydia, it will ultimately lead to my own death."

Sefi's eyes went wide with horror.

"No! Angel, you can't!" She cried, leaping up.

"There must be another way," Cid suggested.

"There isn't another way. It's either this or nothing," Angel said calmly to him.

"Angel, _no_," Rosa said firmly, looking Angel square in the eyes and taking her by the shoulders. "We need you _here_, in this world."

"Then it's a good thing that Baron's got backup," Angel said darkly, shrugging out of Rosa's clutches and backing away from her. "If I die, so what? Baron's got Sefi, who _actually_ wants the job. But if Rydia dies, Eblan has no queen. Baron can spare me: Eblan can't spare Rydia." She glared defiantly at her mother and walked back to everyone else. She knelt down in front of Edge and took Rydia's hand.

"But, Angel, the voice on Mount Ordeals said that you would rule Baron one day," Sefi argued.

"He must have been talking to _you_," Angel said, looking up at Sefi. "Rule well," She added.

Cecil put his hand on Angel's shoulder. "I can't believe that once I found you, I have to lose you again," He said, hugging her from behind.

"It's my job, you know. As a paladin I have to do this," She reasoned.

"I know. I just can't believe that it had to be _you_," He said, holding her tighter.

"I know. I'm scared too," Angel said.

Somewhat relectantly, Cecil let go of Angel and she began casting the only cure spell that she knew: cure.

Once the spell was casted, Angel felt as if something was draining out of her.

_It's working_, She thought, feeling dizzy all of a sudden. _No one else is _ever_ going to think this again, but this is a good thing. Rydia's going to come back... Even if _I_ don't._

After what seemed like ages, Angel felt a sort of tug deep inside her like a string pulling on a wagon.

_It's the last of my life_, She realized. _It's refusing to leave me._ She mentally struggled against the tug for a minute, but her life refused to come forth. _You have to leave me. You have to go to Rydia. Get out of me!_ She demanded, knowing that it wasn't like her life could hear her.

_Wait..._ She thought. _Am I trying to hard?_ She relaxed, feeling for the first time just how tense she'd become. Once she did, she felt that last bit of her life flow from her hands like water. The instant it did, she felt as if she were little more than a shell. She pitched to the side and fell over on the deck with no life left in her at all.

"Angel!" Everyone screamed at once. Edge was just about to say something, but he felt something move in his arms. He looked down at Rydia and, to his overwhelming joy, her eyes were opening again. Edge reached down and picked up her hand and felt that it wasn't so cold anymore.

"Rydia's waking up!" He exclaimed.

Rydia groaned sleepliy and tried to sit up. She failed and sank back inot Edge's arms, sending a hand to her head.

"What happened...?" She asked breathlessly. "I... I can't remember. That zu... he kicked me and then... I don't remember what happened after that," She said.

"What does it matter?" Edge asked, embracing her. "You're back: that's all you really need to know."

"What?" Rydia asked, confused. "What are you talking about? Where did I go?"

"You've been dead for five minutes," Sefi explained. "Angel... She gave you her life," She said, very close to tears now.

Rydia's eyes went wide. "She did?" She asked, scarcely able to believe it. "Is she alright?"

Everyone shook their heads, and Sefi sobbed quietly, burrying her face in her hands.

2222222222

Angel sat up the second she was selfconcious. It had been jet black all around her a moment ago, and now she was sitting in the middle of a bright white void. There was nothing there: just her. She looked around franticly for someone or something else but had no success. She tried to stand up, but her legs wouldn't move. She was glued here in the middle of nothingness and couldn't get away. She found that she couldn't even open her mouth and scream someone's name.

"Hm... Maybe I should have come to you before now," A man's voice said behind her.

She snapped her head around and saw a tall man dressed in black armor sitting down beside her. She found it quite startling that he had dark purple hair, almost the same shade as Sefi's, and that he looked an awful lot like Cecil. In fact, Angel was a bit scared of him at first.

"I'm sorry that we had to meet for the first time under such circumstances," The man informed her. "You're a very brave little girl. It's a shame that all females can't be like you and your pretty mother."

"You look so much like daddy," Angel murrmered, glad that she could open her mouth once more.

"Aha! I was wondering if you'd notice that," He laughed, messing up Angel's hair. "I'm your father's brother, your uncle Golbez."

Angel blinked.

"I... I thought that you were alseep on the moon," She said.

"Good call, kiddo. Sharp as a tack, I see," Golbez praised. "You're dreaming. This is a vision, of sorts," He explained.

"I thought I was dead. I did the life spark on my friend and gave all my life to her," Angel said.

"Not quite _all_ of your life. Apparently, there's still a little bit left in you," Golbez reasoned.

"How's that possible? Mom said that I'd need to give Rydia all my life to bring her back," Angel said.

"Well, obviously, Rosa was wrong... For once in a long while," Golbez said. "Uh... Please don't tell her I said that, okay?" He asked.

"Uh...Sure," Angel agreed.

Golbez sighed heavily and put his arm around Angel's shoulders. "I don't know if my brother ever told you, but you have lunarian blood in your veins," He said.

"They told me once, but it's not something we talk about a lot," Angel explained. "In fact, we haven't talked about it since I was eight."

"Hmph. I don't know _what_ it is that Cecil's trying to acomplish by hiding these things from you. You don't know very much about how they saved the world, do you," Golbez said, shaking his head.

"Well... No," Angel admitted.

"Bah... That's another discusion. Back to what I was saying about your lunarian roots," Golbez said, "Do you know who's voice it was that addressed you on Mount Ordeals when you took your trial?" He asked.

"I don't know, but he called me and my sister his granddaughters," Angel said.

"He wasn't just being strange," Golbez assured her. "That voice was the voice of your lunarian grandfather, KluYa. By him, your father and I are brothers."

Angel's eyes widened in wonder. _That is _so_ cool!_ She thought.

"If ever you need help," Golbez said to her, "You can call on me and your granduncle, FuSoYa, and we will come and help you."

"You mean like a summons?" Angel asked.

"Yes, exactly like a summons," Golbez said. "I believe that you've already called upon FuSoYa to come and help you. If I'm correct, he helpped you and your friends ward off an angry flock of cockatrices," He added.

Angel thought back to the cockatrice attack on the way to Damcyan, remembering when she'd been looking for her sword and swore on FoSoYa when she had trouble finding it. She'd found it right away, and when she'd run to the door the cockatrices ran away from her.

She'd wondered why; now she knew.

"In the meantime, you still have work to do at home. If you're going to do that work you'll have to be alive," Golbez said, and handed her a small red gem that she hadn't noticed before.

"The ruby is an important gem," He explained. "It's said to harbor the spark of life. That explains why the ruby is used for so many dangerous charms and spells; some people even wear rubies when they cast meteor. In fact, the life spark gets it's name from this aspect of the ruby. Hold that ruby in your hands and your body will revive enough for someone to heal you."

"What important work will I be doing?" Angel asked.

Golbez closed his eyes and loooked like he was concentrating hard. After a minute he opened his eyes again and said, "I foresee a terrible war, which you shall help to win. Without you, that war is as good as lost."

"What will I do?" Angel inquired.

Golbez shrugged. "How should I know? I can olny tell what someone will do, not how they'll do it," He explained. "I also predict a long time of peace and happiness in Baron, where all doubts and prejudices against your country will be wipped away by the courage, kindness, and wisdom of it's queen," He added.

"Am _I_ that queen?" Angel asked.

"Yes, you are," Golbez said, radiating pride in her. "I bet that you thought it was your sister, didn't you."

Angel nodded. "Are you sure that it's me? I can't lead anything to save my life," She said.

Globez looked again at his pretend vision and nodded his head. "...Nnnnnnnope. It's you, alright."

"So, as you can tell, you need to go back home," He added.

Angel looked down at the blood red ruby in her hand, and saw that it was begining to glow deep inside, like the sand ruby.

"I'm not sure if I can do this," She confessed, knowing that she probably didn't have a lot more time to speak with her uncle.

"You'll be great. I just know it," Golbez told her. "I know I should have come to you sooner; it was a mistake to have waited for so long," He apologized. "I'll come to you again. I can't say when, but I _will_ come again."

"I hope so. Considering I just met you, I feel as though I've known you forever," Angel said, feeling the ruby suddenly grow warm in her hand. She looked down at the ruby again and saw the light inside it growing stronger, and spreading up her arms like a net of roots. She felt full of something jumpy and happy. She'd felt so empty for so long that she'd forgotten what it was like to feel full.

Everything began to blurr, like when Porom used a teleport spell. The blazing white light all around her turned to gray, and then to black. She wasn't completely sure, of course, but she was pretty sure that she fainted and fell over on her back.

2222222222

When Angel woke up again, she felt much better. She hadn't slept so well in years. She felt so good, in fact, that she sat straight up in bed and rubbed her eyes.

"Angel?" A familiar voice nearby asked. Angel looked to her left and saw Cecil sitting on the bed next to her. Angel was slightly surprised to see him there. She wasn't even sure where she was.

Cecil immidiately pulled Angel closer to him and hugged her. "We thought you'd gone," He said to her. "If you ever do that again, I don't know what we'll do to you."

"I won't, daddy," She promised. "I really mean it this time. I'm not going anywhere for a long time; count on it."

Angel suddenly remembered everything that had happened before she blacked out. "Is Rydia alright?" She asked.

"She's fine, thanks to you," Cecil informed her proudly. "She was still a little bit weak when we got back, but she's a lot better now. There was also... an unexpected surprise that we found out."

"What was it?" Angel asked. "

Well, she's going to have a baby," Cecil told her. Angel's jaw fell open.

"That's wonderful!" She exclaimed. "...Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"Did I _really_ do all that these past two weeks?" She asked, not quite ready to believe that all she had done had actually happened.

"Yes, sweetheart," Cecil said, nodding his head. "You really did."

2222222222

Ha ha! Quite a twist, eh? Betcha didn't see that one coming! Well, it's not over yet; there's still a little more for the sisters and their new friends to do before things wrap up. No war yet. That's coming much later.

Well, school officially starts tomorow. I'm glad I finally finished this phase of Angel and Sefi's journey before I got stuck in that time crunch. New chapters will not be so frequent anymore. Look for new updates, at best, every weekend now.

Much love, Freida.


	8. A New Challenge for the Baron Royalty

And so, continuing, about two months have passed. Things have been going well so far, but things are about to take another crazy twist.

Angel's vitality, loyalty, courage and spirit have all been questioned; but now her strength and wit are about to be put to the test

Sefi's stripes have yet to be proven, or even seen yet. She's about to surprise everyone around her with a few tricks that not even Angel knew about.

2222222222

Chapter 8: A New Challenge for the Baron Royalty

2222222222

Kain was looking for twins one afternoon, but was having difficulty doing so. At first he'd guessed that Sefi would be in the ship yard, helpping Cid with the new airship (it's name still being brainstormed), but she wasn't there. He had no idea where Angel was either, and he didn't want to go about the entire castle searching for them. Castle Baron was a pretty big structure; who would want to treck across it several times looking for two girls who couldn't stay in one place for five minutes?

Fortunately, he ran into Rosa, who he thought would have an idea of where they could be.

"Do you know where the girls might be? I wanted to show them something," He asked her.

"They're both in the courtyard, I think," Rosa said. "Cecil's still teaching Angel things, and I'd like to say that Sefi's watching them today," She explained.

"Thanks a ton. Got to go," Kain said quickly and bolted down the hall.

"Kain, wait!" Rosa called after him.

"I was going to teleport us both there," She added, lowering her voice. She sighed when the dragoon didn't come back, snapped her fingers, and she was gone in an instant.

2222222222

Angel was practicing vibe-work, as she liked to call it. It was the art of being able to pick up smaller vibes by just seeding through the air, looking for the one she wanted, and being able to find it quickly. Cecil and Rosa could do it with ease: Angel was still working on it. Small vibes weren't easy to catch.

The basic idea was that she stood in the middle of the courtyard, with her sword at the ready, while she waited for Cecil (or Sefi, if she was there) to charge her. At the last moment she was supposed to block the attacker and launch into a duel where she used vibes to tell what her opponent was going to do next and plan her next attack accordingly. She still hadn't won a match yet, but she felt like she was finally getting somewhere.

So there she stood in the middle of the courtyard, waiting for someone to attack her. Nothing had happened for about three minutes, and she wasn't sure if anyone was going to attack in the next three either. But that thought ended abruptly when she felt a vibe telling her that Cecil was running towards her. She invisibley braced herself an waited for her father to get close enough for a good attack. Once he was within her range she whipped herself around and blocked his impeding attack.

"Nice block," Cecil commented, but then went right on into the duel. The duel was once Angel's least favorite part of vibe-work; now she loved it. It still irked her at time though, because she had yet to beat Cecil in any way, but he assured her that she was getting better, so she continued with it.

Angel wished that Sefi had attacked her instead. A duel with Cecil didn't last for a very long time, but a duel with Sefi could go on for a while since Sefi was _as_ good as she was instead of better by many years.

After several minutes of fighting Cecil finally managed to pin Angel to the ground.

"Good fight. You're deffinetly getting better at this," He said, standing back up and helpping Angel back back on her feet.

"Sef, how long was that?" Angel asked Sefi, who's been watching from a corner and keeping track of the time. Sefi checked her watch and a surprised but impressed look crossed her face.

"Six minutes and a bunch of seconds. It's a new record," She said happily.

Angel looked disapointed. "That seems so far from my goal," She lammented. "I don't know if I'll ever reach it." "

What _is_ your goal?" Sefi asked.

"30 minutes, for now," Angel said passively.

"30 minutes? That's a pretty big goal for a start," Sefi noted.

Angel shrugged and said, "It's not like I wanted to start small, or anything. I've always been an overachiever, and you know it."

"Well I'm pretty impressed," Cecil stated. "When you started practicing vibe-work you could barely keep up with me for a second. Now you can last for a full six seconds and... What was it, Sefi?" He asked.

"Six minutes and a bunch of seconds," Sefi corrected. "Not six _seconds_, six _minutes_."

"That's right, six minutes and a bunch of seconds," Cecil repeated, sounding very proud of Angel (he'd been doing that a lot lately). "You've come a long way. I think that you'll reach your goal in no time if you just keep working," He said to Angel.

Angel beamed. She loved it when Cecil showed that he was impressed with her. Even though he'd been her hero since she was a small child, Cecil hadn't always been the best dad in the world. In fact, it didn't seem like he'd taken much interest in her until now. Now that he was paying more attention to her she was the happiest girl on the Blue Planet.

"What's going on over here?" Someone asked behind them. Everyone turned around and saw Rosa standing nearby. Angel and Sefi jumpped, always startled when she suddenly showed up places, but Cecil was uneffected.

"Hello, dear," He said. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm fine, but Kain was looking the girls. He said that he had something to show them. He was running this way when I last saw him and should be here in-" She was cut off when Kain burst through the door, panting heavily.

"Um... Never mind," Rosa said.

"There you two are," Kain gasped between breathes. "How'd it go... today, Angel?" He asked.

"It went alright. I'm staying in combat longer and longer every time I do this," She said, grinning widely.

"Ah... Good. I... came up with something... earlier today and... I thought you two might like to see it," Kain said, finally getting his breathing in check.

"What is it?" Sefi asked excitedly. She loved it when Kain came up with a new trick of some kind.

"I came up with a new technique for the sword. I thought that knowing it might benefit you both, so I've been looking for you for an hour or so," Kain explained.

"Cool!" Sefi exclaimed, jumpping up from the box she'd been sitting on. "Can I see it?" She asked.

"Certainly," Kain agreed, and drew his sword.

The routine started with Kain simply twirling his sword about in his hand. He began speeding the motion up and suddenly thrust the blade forward and back very quickly. Then he jumpped in the air and when he landed he stuck the blade into the ground. It looked pretty easy, but also physically demanding at some points. Swords were heavy, and twirling them at that speed and then jabbing them forward and back like that would have left Sefi's arms either a limp as overboiled noodles or broken. None the less, Sefi was mezmorized by Kain's new creation.

_Poetry in motion!_ She thought.

"I wanna learn it now!" She cried, dismayed that she was still a learner and wouldn't be able to handle things like that for some time yet.

"You'll learn it at some point, I assure you," Kain said, making an attempt to cheer Sefi up. Sefi was about to say something else, but a servant walked in the door at that moment and made a small curtsie.

"I'm sorry to interupt, but there's a mage from Mysidia here to see you," She said. "All of you," She added when she saw that all of the royalty was there. She sighed, happy that she too had been spared a scavenger hunt all over the castle, and turned to leave.

She turned back and added quickly, "I left her waiting for you in the library. Hurry along with whatever it is you're doing, if it's not too much trouble." Then she left.

"I wonder what's happening," Angel said quietly.

"I'm sure we'll all find out soon enough," Cecil said, sheathing his own sword and heading for the door. "Go put your sword away and meet us in the library," He directed and left the courtyard.

"What your father said," Rosa said and began walking to the door. "Come on, Kain," She said, grabbing Kain by the wrist and pulling him along with her before he was fully aware of what was happening.

"Wha-? What'd I do? It wasn't me, I _swear_!" He said, aware that if he went with Rosa it meant that he might have to stay in one place for a longer time than he'd like. Rosa began arguing with him, but what they said was coming only in vague echoes since they were so far down the corridor.

"Well, you heard what they said," Sefi pointed out. Back to our room we go."

"You don't have to come, you know. You can go on to the library and I'll meet you there," Angel insisted.

"No, I want to go with you. We'll find out who it is together, the way God intended," Sefi said stoubornly.

"Okay, then let's get going," Angel reasoned and headed for the door.

2222222222

About 15 minutes found the twins standing outside the library door. Angel knocked on the library door, happy that it had taken her a minimal amount of time to be there (for once. She was getting better and better at being on time and pleased everyone greatly).

"Who is it?" Rosa asked from the other side of the door.

"It's just us. Can we come in?" Angel asked.

"Come on in," Rosa answered, and Angel opened the door. Only four people were in the large, book-filled room. The first three were Cecil, Rosa and Kain, and the fourth was a familiar brown-haired mage with a long red cape and shining green eyes.

"Porom!" Angel and Sefi cried at the same time.

"What are you doing here?" Sefi asked.

"Come over, come over," Porom said, beckoning to them. "There's something we need to discuss," She said, sounding worried. Her tone of voice was rather unnerving, so the twins hurried over.

"What's going on?" Angel asked, hoping that it didn't have to do with her paladin trial two months earlier.

"Something's wrong back home," Porom said saddly. "We don't know very much about it, but it has something to do with the sea surrounding our island," She explained.

"How so?" Angel asked. "No one knows. We thought that you all might be able to help us somehow," Porom said.

"Why us?" Rosa asked. "I don't know; the elder told me to go and get you because he thought you'd be helpful. So here I am," Porom said with a shrug.

"What kind of help did you have in mind?" Kain asked.

"Whatever help you can give us, I suppose. I have no idea what the elder's planning this time. It's not that I don't think you can help; I'm just not sure if you'll be able to help in any way," Porom explained.

"What's happening, exactly?"Cecil asked.

"The water around the island has turned several different colors in the past week; since it started. It turned a dull blue, and then dingy green, and then gray... We didn't really worry that much about the color for a few days, but when it turned purple and then _orange_, we began to worry," Porom explained. "The water is raging constantly; it's never still, or even mild. It always moves like a storm is going on. You can't put a boat to the water for miles in every direction: they suddenly crumbble like sand, or burst into flames, or melt like ice. And..." She cut off there, and didn't say anything more.

"Go on," Rosa urged.

"I can't..." Porom struggled.

"What's wrong?" Rosa asked, sencing that something was troubling the mage.

"...It's the dead things," Porom said slowly as her eyes filled with tears. "Dead fish, seaweed, and other... things. They float on the water everywhere. I just can't stand it," She explained, looking away so the others couldn't see the tear that slid down her face. Like any other white mage, she hated to see things like that; to far down the line to be helpped by their magic. It hurt Porom like a knife to know that she couldn't help them.

"It's alright," Cecil assured the mage. "Of course we'll help you," He said.

"We'll _all_ help you," The twins said together.

"When can we leave?" Kain asked eagerly, anxious to be on another adventure. Porom looked back at everyone, now smiling brightly.

"Tomorow, we make for Devil's Road!" She said happily.

2222222222

And so, off to Mysidia, once more.

My great idea for this story was that Angel had a story, where she had a big personal adventure, and then Sefi had her own story as well, where they both get what they want. Angel's story wrapped up last chapter, and you've just crossed into "The Sefi Zone"! (duh-duh-duuuuh)

The water problems don't really make for a big challenge (any scientists who are reading will prabably try and blame it on some kind of seaweed mating season or something), but trust me: this problem goes more than skin deep. I've been brain storming this part of the story ever since chapter three. I've got my ducks in a row, I assure you (I think I've used that phrase a bit too much in this chapter...).

That out of the way, Devil's Road in a few days. I'm sorry for the update delay; I was grounded for toying around with some musical equipment of my uncle's that I should have left alone. I'm off on probation, and can write again! Yay!

Suggestions always appreciated. R&R... I think that's about it for now. Check you later, y'all!


	9. Trouble Beneath Mysidia's Surface

Once again, we're skiping the journey forth, and they are arriving in Mysidia now.

2222222222

Chapter 9: Trouble Beneath Mysidia's Surface

2222222222

The following afternoon, the party emerged from the darkness of Devil's Road and into the bright sunlight of Mysidia's eastern side. Without saying anything, Porom led everyone through the streets as quickly as she could to Mysidia Tower. As they traversed the streets, Angel and Sefi could see that many homes were deserted, shop windows had been boared up, and that people were rushing about with arm loads of things (healing potions, clothing, etc), looking like they were escaping. They also took note that many of the people they'd passed were heading to Devil's Road.

Within 10 minutes of pushing and shoving , the group finally made it to the tower. It's courtyard was deserted and the trees around the area had lost the glossy finish that most trees had in the summer. Their leaves were pale and dull, as if fall was coming. The whole place just looked sad; Angel almsot cried, she was so taken aback.

_What happened?_ She wondered _What happened to the beautiful, lively, green Mysidia I saw before? This place looks so desolate next to it... This _couldn't_ be Mysidia._

As they were walking up the front walkway, the door to the tower burst open and Palom ran out of it. He stopped short of crashing into his sister and hugged her.

"You're finally back! What took you so long? I thought that another war had started," He said as Porom pushed her way out of his hug.

"I'm here now, aren't I? And I brought everyone with me. Where's the elder?" She asked.

"Upstairs. Come on," Palom said, leding everyone into the tower. "But I've gotta warn you: he's been acting odd since you left."

"It's his nerves. He can't handle this problem _and_ you at the same time," Porom retorted.

The mages led everyone up several flights of stairs until they emerged onto what appeared to be the roof. The elder stood at the far side of the roof, staring over the side of the low wall.

"I was wondering when you'd get back," He said quietly when everyone had gotten on the roof.

Porom sighed and said, "I wasn't gone _that_ long. And I brought everyone, just like you said."

"Aha! Good," The elder said, turning to face everyone. "I suppose you'd like to see what's going on?" He asked.

"Yes," The twins chorused, and ran over ahead of everyone else. The sight beyond the wall was an odd and scary one. Apparently the water had changed color again since Porom had been there: the water was now bright pink. The waves were as choppy as Porom had said, and didn't show any sighns of stopping. And, just as Porom had said, numerous dead sea-life floated on the wild waves. The twins gasped together.

"Gravy! This is terrible," Sefi said, not knowing what else to say. By this time, the grown ups had reached the wall and were standing there, staring at the water in a wordless silence.

"And you have no idea what's causing this?" Cecil asked the elder.

"No. If we knew what was going on, we'd have done something about it by now," The elder pointed out.

"Hey, what's that?" Angel asked, pointing to a spot in the water that looked as if something had been dropped into the water.

"Did you see what it was?" Kain asked.

"Not really..." Angel said, scannning the waves or any sign of the creature she'd seen. Suddenly, something jumpped from the water, flailed about in the air for a few seconds, and then splashed back into the water.

"It's a dolphin," Rosa murrmered.

"Really?" Angel asked.

"Hey, look! There it is again!" Sefi shouted, pointing to the dolphin as it jumpped from the water again.

"Oh, pay that thing little mind," The edler instructed. "It's been at this since last night. It doesn't mean anything."

"It must mean something," Porom insisted. "Animals talk to us in all sorts of ways. That dolphin might be trying to tell us something. If we ignore it, we might miss out on a vital clue."

"Nonesense. How could an animal talk to anyone unless it spoke human tounge?" The elder asked.

Porom frowned. She felt very sure that the dolphin had something important to say, and she didn't like it that the elder was scorning her.

"Perhaps we should go down to the water and ask it?" Angel suggested. The elder laughed.

"That's a silly idea. You won't gain anything from it," He assured her.

"Well, _I_ think it's an idea worth trying," Cecil said firmly, casting a glare at the elder. "I think that Porom's right: animals speak to us, even if we don't know it. This counts for the dolphin. To the water we go," He said, and walked back to the stairs with everyone at his heels.

Even the elder went along. "I'll laugh at you all when you get nothing from that silly dolphin," He said.

2222222222

The north side of the island had no beach. It mearly stopped and the vast expanse of the ocean began. Here everyone stood, watching the dolphin continue to jump up and splash back into the pink water.

"So, what exactly do you intend to do?" The elder asked.

"I think the dolphin's been trying to get out attention," Angel explained. "We need to let it know that it's got our attention and come to us."

"And how will you do that?" The elder asked.

"I'll let it know," Palom offered, and cleared his throat. He cupped his hands around his mouth and hollared, "Hey, dolphin! We're over here! If you've got something to say, come and tell us!"

They all waited in silence for a moment, but nothing was happening.

"Well... What now?" The elder inquired.

"Keep waiting," Angel said. "It _will_ come."

"You can say that, but I think we all know that the dolphin won't co-"

At that moment a squeaky sound caught everyone's attention. It reminded Sefi of rubber scraping against itself. The sound was acompanied by a splash, and then more squeaking and another splash on and off, and pretty soon everyone could see the dolphin skimming the waves, coming towards them. It all started off pretty faint, but it grew louder and louder. As the squeaking got louder, it seemed that words were forming within it in a high pitched voice. No one could tell what the words were right away, but they were there, deffinetly.

As the dolphin got closer, they could tell that it was repeating, "I'm coming, I'm coming. Don't leave; I'm coming." It's voice also grew deeper as it closed in.

At last it stopped before the ground and held it's head up over the water, looking at the group of humans with small black eyes. She'd been lovely from a distance; up close she was even lovelier. Her head and back were all blue, but her underside was as white as a cloud, and the two colors net at her side in a wave-shaped scalop. Her face would have been playfull and sweet under any other circumstance, but right now it was sad and nervous.

"I have been waiting for you to come," She said. "I knew that you would come eventually."

"It's talking. The dolphin is _talking_," Rosa gasped.

"Of course I'm talking," The dolphin said. "All creatures talk. It's just not as obvious as some people expect."

"Yes, we know," Porom said, casting a glare at the elder that clearly said, _I await a lavish apology_.

"My name is Hoop," The dolphin said, dipping her head politely. "I am the captain of the dolphin guard, and our queen is in dire need of your help."

"How so? What can we do?" Cecil asked.

"It's our king, Conch," Hoop explained. "He's disappeared recently. Our king holds a responsibility to Leviathan, the king of summoned creatures. There is a certain tribute that our king must pay to Leviathan in order to help keep one of several delicate balances in the water. But, since king Conch vanished, that tribute has gone unpaid. That is why all of these terrible things are happening to the water."

" So what happened?" Kain asked.

"With the water? There is a cave from which seeps a poison. With the tribute, Leviathan is able to seal off the cave to keep the poison inside. That is the balance; but now that cave has been opened and the poison is escaping. It's not hurting us, but it's killing everything we eat, and now all of the sea creatures are starving to death," Hoop explained.

"I meant what happened to Conch. What happened to him?" Kain asked. "We don't know," Hoop said saddly. "We woke up one morning and he was gone."

"What is the tribute that he must pay?" Sefi asked.

"A boulder," Hoop said plainly.

"...Conch has to give a boulder to Leviathan to keep that cave closed?" Angel asked. "Using the boulder to stop up the cave, I can understand, but couldn't anyone get that boulder?"

"No. It has to be a special boulder from a particular place. We don't know where it comes from; no one except for the king is allowed to know where this place is. We're not even allowed to see the boulder that the king picks. The poison builds up a lot of pressure, stuck behind that mountain of boulders, so it tends to push the settled boulders out of place and we often need new ones to replace them. And it is said that no one but the king or one of the special strength can move the boulder we need," Hoop explained patiently.

"So why ask us?" Porom asked.

"The special power I spoke of is called 'magic' by land walkers. One who can use magic can move the boulders we need for the cave. In our kingdom, only the king knows magic; and that magic is specificly for moving the giant stones," Hoop explained. "We all know that the people who live on this bit of land know magic, so I've been trying to get someone's attention for the past day or so. I thought one of you might be able to help," She explained.

"Porom and I are mages. We can help you," Palom volenteered, pulling his sister closer to him.

"Wonderful! Thank you," Hoop said. "We live on a reef, about thee miles below this land. You won't be able to hold your breaths for so long; this we all know. I will bring you back what's left of the breath plant so that you can come with me," Hoop said, and dove back below the water before anyone could ask what breath plant was.

"Well," Angel said, turning to the elder with a smirk on her face. "I think that we've learned quite a bit, don't you?"

The elder didn't say anything, but let his eyes wander away from everyone else. He looked like a terrible fool, so the last thing he wanted was to meet anyone's stare.

2222222222

Sooooo... It's kinda weird, no? But it's the best thing that I could come up with. And yes, it's what I've been planning for so long.

If you've got any better ideas, I'd really like to hear them. This is pretty bad, isn't it? Your help will be greatly appreciated!

So, off I go to create another chapter. Hopefully it will be better than this one.


	10. The Reef Kingdom of the Dolphins

And now, we return to our party, waiting for Hoop to return with what she called the "breath plant".

2222222222

Chapter 10: The Reef Kingdom of the Dolphins

2222222222

For five minutes the group of humans had been waiting for the blue and white dolphin called Hoop to return with something called "breath plant" so that Palom and Porom could come and help the dolphins. But it seemed like they'd been waiting for hours.

"She's got to be back sometime," Sefi reasoned.

"She did say that the reef was three miles down," Angel reminded her twin. "It must take a while to get there and then back up here."

"Does it matter either way to you?" The elder inquired. "You're not even going."

"So?" Sefi asked feeling pretty ticked off with the elder's behavior. "You can't tell me what I can and can't want," She said.

"Sefi, have you noticed that there's something not quite right about the elder today?" Angel whispered to Sefi.

"Yeah: he's suddenly the meanest person I've yet to meet," Sefi said quietly.

"Exactly. He wasn't like this when we were here before," Angel answered. "He was nice before. He was even willing to buy us some time. And he listened to what Porom said before. Now he scorns everything that she suggests and says that we're silly for listening to her."

"What do you mean?" Sefi asked.

"I think that there's something other than just the water wrong here," Angel said.

She was about to say more, but she was cut off by Hoop resurfacing with a mouthful of a silvery seaweed looking plant. She swam up to the water's edge and put the plants on the ground in front of everyone.

"This is the breath plant," She explained. "If you eat it, you'll be able to breath under water for the rest of your life; but you can still breathe on land," She explained

"Useful, no?"

"Very useful, indeed," Palom said, picking up part of the plant and looking it over.

"Does it taste alright?" Porom asked.

"It's not the best taste in the world, but it's not half bad. Don't be shy; eat it," Hoop said.

The twin mages both took a deep breath and crammed some of the plant into their mouths. They both grimaced and swallowed the plant quickly. They stood there waiting for something to happen or feel different, but nothing happened.

"What happens now?" Palom asked.

"Now you and your sister come with me to the reef and help us." Hoop said.

"Well, let's go then," Palom said, and took off his robe. Porom untied the string of her cloak and let it flutter to the ground. She also removed her chopsticks and let her long brown hair fall down her back. Everyone was mildly surprised; they'd never seen Porom with her hair down.

"We'll be back later," She said over her shoulder and headed for the water.

"Wait," Sefi said, noting that there was still a little bit of breath plant left. "Can I come with?" She asked.

"I don't mind; we can always use some extra help," Hoop said. "But what does you family think?" She asked.

"Mom, daddy, can I go?" Sefi asked her parents.

Cecil and Rosa looked at each other as if reading their minds. After a second, Cecil nodded and said, "Go on with them. We'll be up here if you need anything."

Sefi picked up the last of the breath plant, broke it in half, and handed half of it to Angel. But Angel shook her head and pushed it away.

"I'm staying here this time," She said. "You and Palom and Porom have fun down there, Sef."

"You're sure?" Sefi asked.

"Yup. Sure as I'll ever be," Angel said confidently. "There's some snooping that I want to do up here. If I'm right, there's something really bad going on and it could be linked to Conch's disappearance," She explained in a lower voice so that only Sefi could hear.

"Oh, I gotcha," Sefi said, and put half of the breath plant into her mouth. To her, it tasted a bit like okra (which she hated) sautéed in onions (which she loved), so it balanced out a bit. She finished chewing the plant and swallowed quickly and went to join Palom, Porom, and Hoop.

"To the reef!" Hoop squeaked, jumped in the air, did a back flip, and dove gracefully into the water.

"Follow that dolphin!" Palom shouted, and dove in after Hoop with Porom and Sefi close behind him.

"Now then… What do we do until they get back?" Kain asked.

"Go back to the tower, I suppose," The elder said, and began walking back towards the city. "Oh? But don't you want to stay and lecture the others about how they didn't find out anything from that silly dolphin, and that you were right and they were wrong?" Angel asked meanly.

The elder looked back and glared at her but resumed his walking. Angel half expected someone to kick here from behind for that statement, but the adults started laughing.

"That was very clever, Angel," Kain said.

"I couldn't have said it better, myself," Rosa added.

"Thanks. I like to think I come up with something original every now and then," Angel said, and headed back the way the elder was going.

2222222222

Palom, Porom and Sefi also found that, in addition to being able to breath under water, they could swim better as well. Following the dolphin wasn't as hard as they'd thought it would be.

In about 15 minutes the large reef finally came into focus. The reef was huge; the entire sea floor for miles around was one big marine city. The layout reminded Sefi of Baron City. It was fun to look at the various water-worn rock structures and large coral that might be homes or other buildings. But if Rydia had been there she would have said that it was much more like the Land of Summons than anywhere else, even though it really wasn't like the Land of Summons at all. Some rocks were elevated, but some were set lower to the ground. There seemed to be paths and trails in some places, but they were very faint.

At any other time, the "streets" would have been full of movement; fathers making their livings, mothers keeping house, children playing, and teenagers going about their varied and ever-changing ways. Now, what with the poison rampant, everyone was hiding. No one was about today. When the quartet approached, the few things that were out scattered and swam home for respect of the dolphin captain and fear of the humans.

At the very center of the city was a large castle-looking form of coral. Hoop began swimming toward it and said to the humans, "Our queen, Artiria, resides here. You must come to see her."

"What's the queen like?" Sefi asked, surprised that she could speak so well under the water (another side effect of the breath plant).

"She's a good queen; but she can be very cold at times. Her mood hasn't been the best since the king vanished. You'll have to forgive her if she comes off as snobbish or mean," Hoop explained.

No one said anything to this, but followed Hoop on to the castle of coral.

2222222222

Back on the surface, Angel was keeping a very close eye on the elder, who was continuing to act strange. Now that she knew there was something going on her paladin senses had suddenly grown sharper and she could feel it. She wondered if Cecil and Rosa could feel it too; if they did they didn't show it, so Angel continued to milk what she could from the vibe that she had. She was determined to use this as a personal vibe-work test, and wasn't going to go to her parents until she found something very important.

So far she just felt the tingly sensation and when she focused on it she only got a mental picture of the elder. She focused harder but got nothing more.

_This is supposed to be a test. This is supposed to be difficult,_ She told herself. _I've just got to look at this from every possible angel and think about it._ A shiver went down her back for a reason that she couldn't quite pin-point. Maybe it was being so close to Mount Ordeals again.

_I wonder how far the others have gotten by now…_She thought, and returned to sharpening her sword. It was the only thing that she could find to keep from pacing about the room and acting shady and suspicious whenever the elder walked by.

"You should give your sword a rest, or you'll wear it down to a twig," Kain advised from the kitchen door.

Angel looked up at him reproachfully. "I haven't been sharpening it for that long, you know," She said.

"You've been at it for the past hour and a half," Kain pointed out.

Angel gently touched the tip of the blade to her fingertip as if it were a feather; she drew blood without doing anything at all.

"Nice and sharp, just the way I like it," Angel remarked, slipping the sword back into its sheath and sticking her finger in her mouth.

"You seem tense," Kain noted. "Have you been sharpening that sword because you were just bored, or was there another reason?" He asked.

Angel took her finger out of her mouth and said, "There might be; I don't know yet."

"If there's a problem you should tell your parents. They'll know what to do," Kain suggested.

"Not yet," Angel refused. "I want to do this first part on my own."

2222222222

The coral castle was much larger on the inside than it had looked from the outside. It extended back half a mile, and bits of coral seemed to grow out of the walls and form room and corridors. In the very back was the throne room, where queen Artiria was waiting. The other dolphins around stared at the trio of humans, some with curiosity and others with suspicion, as Hoop guided them through the many twists and turns of the structure.

Sefi thought that it was very neat that every dolphin had a different pattern of blue on its back and white on its underside. Once she saw a pair of small dolphins with the same markings and wondered if they might be twins. The idea made her smile.

_If we can't stop the poison, they'll probably die,_ She thought bitterly. _We've got to fix this._

A high coral wall suddenly blocked their way and they had to stop. "Wait here for a moment while I tell the queen you're here," Hoop said, and swam up over the wall. While the humans were waiting, the pair of dolphin twins swam over to them.

"Hello," The smaller of the two said sweetly. "I'm Kivey. And this is my little brother, Sido. Who are you?"

"I'm Palom, this is my sister, Porom, and this is Sefi," Palom said, pointing to each person in turn.

"Nice to meet you," Sido said. "So, what are you doing down here, land-walkers?" He asked.

"We're here to help with the poison," Porom explained.

The eyes of both dolphins went wide.

"You mean you're going to make the water good again?" Kivey asked happily.

"Yes, we are," Sefi answered, feeling her heart go out to the dolphin children. They seemed so young; they shouldn't have to endure this.

Hoop appeared over the wall again and called out, "The queen will see you now. Come on."

Porom turned to the dolphin children and smiled. "We've got to go now. It was nice meeting you," She said; she sounded like she'd worked with small kids a lot in the past.

"Alright. Have fun," Sido said and swam off.

"Bye now," Kivey said and swam after her brother.

As they watched the brother and sister swim away, Hoop came up to them and said, "I see that you've become acquainted with Silver's children. Sweet calves, no?" Her sudden an unseen presence caught everyone off guard and made them all jump.

"Please don't do that again," Palom requested.

"No worries; just come along now," Hoop said, and led them back over the wall.

The other side was a large coral-walled room with two large rocks against the far wall. The one on the right was empty. But one of the biggest and most elegant dolphin of them all was resting on top of the left rock.

"Queen Artiria, may I introduce Palom and Porom, the mages, and their friend, Sefi," Hoop said, leading the group across the room. The dolphin queen looked the three humans over with a critical eye and didn't say anything for a minute.

"Small favors, indeed," Said the queen in a voice which was low but full of grace. She rose from her throne and moved toward the mages.

"You both have magic, do you?" She asked, bringing her voice back up; at a normal volume her voice could make a large room like this seem very cramped. Palom and Porom suddenly felt very, very small compared to the dolphin; they couldn't say anything so they nodded their heads.

"Good," Said the queen. "Then you'll be able to help us. _You,_" She said, turning to Sefi and staring at her sharply, "I don't know about. Do you have magic?" She asked. S

efi shook her head timidly.

"Do you do anything useful?" She asked.

"Well… uh… I'm training to be a dark archer," Sefi said, hoping that Artiria wouldn't get angry with her for not using magic.

"I don't know what that is," Artiria said dismissively. "Can dark archers help us?" She asked.

"Of course I can help. I came to help Palom and Porom," Sefi said, once again feeling that the queen might get very mad at her for something.

"No, I mean can you help _us_: my citizens and I. Perhaps we dolphins and fish are having a pretty difficult time getting by, but the sharks are having the time of their lives. We aren't safe with the brutes running rampant. Can you help us hold them off until this crisis is resolved?" Artiria asked Sefi.

The purple haired girl thought about this arrangement. She'd really wanted to go and help her friends, but she could tell that the citizens were having problems here. They'd need help until things were fixed.

"I'll stay and help you," Sefi agreed.

"Wonderful. Thank you," Artiria said, perking up a little bit. Apparently this was the first thing that had gone right in a few days.

"Now, off with you, mages. I'm told that the boulders are found about a mile from the cave. And the cave shouldn't be too hard to find. I'm not sure what will happen then," Artiria explained. "You may go now; but I'd like the dark haired one to stay with me," She said. Hoop and the mages all bowed and turned to leave.

"Good luck," Sefi called to them.

"Thanks. Try and have fun here," Palom advised.

"I'll try," Sefi promised, and watched them swim away.

"So, calf," Artiria said to Sefi once they were alone, "It's just you and me now. Let's get to work."

2222222222

It might strike some who aren't well versed in marine biology as odd that Hoop called Kivey and Sido calves, and that Artiria just called Sefi a calf. For those of you who don't know, a baby dolphin is called a calf; so are baby manatees and whales. Appropriately, females are called cows and males are called bulls. Thought you ought to know: there's going to be a lot of dolphin lingo in the future.

I also think it might be kinda fun to picture the dolphins with Australian accents. I just thought that it would be a nice and interesting change of pace, ya know? Heehee...

Oh yes, and I believe that Rydia will be making an appearance sometime in the near future; her connection to Leviathan, and all. And yes, there is indeed more to the elder than meets the eye. It's terrible, I assure you. It's like the surprise of Rydia's death a few chapters back. I'm evil to do this, I know. Another chapter in a few days. Bye!


	11. Angel's Brilliant Idea

Meanwhile, back on the surface…

2222222222

Chapter 10: Angel's Brilliant Idea

2222222222

Angel was feeling pretty irked that she still wasn't getting anything more from her vibe. It was the only vibe that she could find and it wasn't telling her anything that she didn't already know. Something was wrong with the elder: that much was clear. She just didn't know what.

_Maybe I should ask mom and daddy for help now,_ She thought and looked across the room at her parents. Their behavior was troubling her as well. Rosa hadn't spoken since they'd returned to the tower, and she looked very tired and worried. Cecil's eyes darted around the room constantly, never staying the same place for more than five seconds, and the slightest sound or movement caught his attention.

_They're nervous,_ Angel realized, tuning into how tense the room now seemed. _They're expecting something; I know it. What vibe are they catching?_ She wondered, combing the space around her for a new vibe. When she didn't find one she assumed that whatever her parents were catching was too small for her to find.

"What's going on?" She asked, breaking the seemingly eternal silence.

"What?" Cecil asked, somewhat sleepily, coming out of his stupor. "I'm sorry, Angel, I didn't catch that." He said, pushing his white-blonde hair out of his face.

"I asked what's going on. You and mom are catching a vibe and I want to know what it is," Angel explained.

"It's not a vibe," Cecil said and rubbed his eyes.

"Than what is it?" Angel asked.

"I don't know; it's just a feeling that something's terribly wrong. I got a vibe, but I only saw the elder. There was nothing else," Cecil explained.

"So you caught that one too," Angel remarked.

"What do you mean?" Cecil asked.

"I mean that I got that one too. Know what it means?" She asked. Cecil shook his head.

"By the way, way didn't you tell me about finding that vibe?" He asked.

"I wanted to test myself; I thought that that was a good opportunity to do it," Angel explained.

"Next time you pick up something like that, I'd prefer it if you told me or your mother," Cecil requested. Angel nodded.

"I'm scared about what it means. What if it's something really bad?" Angel said.

"Then we'll handle it together; like a family," Cecil told her.

Angel felt secure in this knowledge. If they all worked together as a team, a family, they'd be able to face whatever was coming.

Of that, she was very sure.

2222222222

Beneath the water, Sefi was having her own problems with Artiria. For a queen whose king had mysteriously vanished, had poison killing the populous, and numerous other things to worry about, she was making it a point to get as much information about the purple haired girl as she could. Sefi didn't really like people (or dolphins) prying into her life, especially when there was trouble at hand that she could help fix.

_I thought she needed help with sharks. Now _there_ would be a challenging task for me,_ she thought.

"I've never heard of dark archers," Artiria said softly. "What exactly do they do?" She asked.

"They're like dark knights, only the use a bow and arrows," Sefi said, trying to mask how irritated she was with the queen.

"What do you mean, bow and arrows? I've heard of a dark knight, but a dark _archer_? Is that possible?" Artiria asked.

"Of course, it's possible; I'm proving it. I invented it, and I'm doing it, aren't I?" Sefi asked angrily. This remark earned her a harsh slap on the mouth from Artiria's long blue tail.

"What on earth was that for?" Sefi demanded.

"I was_ just_ asking. I'm a dolphin; I'm curious by nature. If something is new, I immediately question it. Why get angry with me for wanting to know something that I don't already know? When I've asked you the same questions four or five tomes, _then_ you can yell at me," Artiria explained calmly, but with an air that clearly said, "I am the queen. I am powerful. You do as I say or you will regret it."

"Now then," Artiria said, settling back down on her rock and looking Sefi squarely in her dark blue eyes, "Do you have a question to ask?"

Sefi thought for a moment, trying to figure out what the queen meant. Then she realized what she needed to ask.

"Will you forgive me?" She asked.

"Yes, I do. You are still a calf; I do not expect you to understand these things right away," Artiria said nonchalantly. To Sefi, the dolphin sounded a bit like Rosa. She wondered if Artiria had any calves of her own. Surely she must, if she's a queen.

"How would any other sea creature act if they were talking with me?" Sefi asked.

"Every type of marine life reacts a different way to things: we dolphins, as I said, are naturally curious. If something is new, we question it, ask about it, and learn about it. The fish take it as it is and go about things as if nothing is new. For them, it's, 'Oh look, something new is there. That's the way it is now. Be careful not to run into it'. The seagulls take one look at it and want it; they'll fight for what they want until there's only one left and he can't even remember what it was he wanted to begin with. And if the sharks want something, they take it.

"If the fish see you, they will ignore you for the most part; the friendly ones will say hello and ask for your name, but they'll mostly leave you alone. If the seagulls see you, they will crowd around you, and ask you to come away with them so that they can have you. And if the sharks see you, they will take you away, no questions from you or anyone else," Artiria explained to Sefi, who was wide eyed at this point. "If the sharks decide that they want you, they will take you, whether you want them to or not. And no one will come to help you. So, if you see a shark, kill it before it takes you away. Because no one will save you, and you'll never come back," She cautioned.

"I'll remember that," Sefi promised. "It shouldn't be too hard, but I suppose that it never hurts," She added.

Artiria nodded. "Wise words, for a calf. You strike me as someone who's seen things beyond her kingdom… Perhaps things that one so young doesn't usually see," She mused.

"I have lived through quite a bit recently. It's a rather long story," Sefi said.

"Your friends are gone for a while, and there are no sharks about: I have time," Artiria said, settling into a comfy position on her rock. "Sit down and tell me about it," She said, flapping her tail on the rock.

Sefi sat down on the rock (it felt nice to be sitting after floating in mid-water for so long) and began telling the story of those two weeks, two months earlier.

2222222222

Palom and Porom found their way to a deep under-water valley, filled with large rocks, in very little time. They'd both expected something to happen, but everything looked pretty still, and didn't look like it was going to get interesting.

"So, what do we do now?" Palom asked his sister, who usually had a good answer to things.

Porom shook her head. "I have no idea. If something happened, then maybe I'd have something to work with. The well's dry right now," She said.

"Maybe we should try and move one of the boulders," Palom suggested. Porom nodded, willing to try most ideas that her brother had, and they swam closer to the rocky valley. They were both cut off and sent backwards by a strong protection spell, so they couldn't get in.

"Now what?" Palom demanded angrily to no one in particular.

"Palom, calm down. We'll think of something," Porom assured her fuming brother, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, you're right. We always do," Palom agreed.

"I wonder how everyone else is doing," Porom mused, looking back up to the top of the water, now nearly five miles above her head.

"If we know them (and we do), they're all perfectly fine. I wouldn't worry," Palom said.

"I know, but something doesn't feel right. Like that first time we went to Baron, and that guy betrayed us. Blast! I can never think of his name," Porom muttered.

"It's that bad, eh?" Palom asked. "I'm sure they'll be capable of handling whatever's up there; two paladins, a white mage and a dragoon can't be easy to beat," Palom reminded Porom.

"Yeah, but still…" Porom said, trailing off. _They'll have to be good enough to beat whatever's coming. This feels really, _really _bad,_ she thought.

2222222222

Angel had been doing a smart bit of thinking about the whole situation. She was wondering if maybe, since Leviathan had something to do with things, they should somehow call Rydia to come and help. But Eblan and Mysidia were very far apart; it could take days for Rydia to get to Mysidia. And besides: Rydia was two months pregnant. Why trouble her over this? It wasn't her problem.

_But she could be of so much help to us right now,_ Angel argued with herself. _A connection to Leviathan could speed up the conclusion of this whole thing. But, then again, it would take her forever to get here; the reef's as good as gone, whether she comes or not. On the other hand, she knows some magic; maybe she could get here faster if she used it? Then again…_

"Daddy, I need to ask you something," She said to Cecil, who was now pacing back and forth across the floor.

"Yes?" He asked, stopping in mid step and looking up at her.

"Do you think that we should call Rydia for help?" Angel asked, knowing that Cecil could end this tiresome debate with herself with one little word.

"That's a good idea. I think we should try it," Cecil said, clearly impressed with the idea. "I'll go and ask the elder if he'll help," He added, momentarily forgetting that something was wrong with the elder.

The elder had been in the kitchen, brewing a strange smelling tea. He was now leaning against the counter, drinking the substance greedily from a big cup. When Cecil entered the kitchen, the elder looked up at his and asked gruffly, "What do you want?" Then he went right back to the drink.

"Angel had an idea," Cecil explained. "She thought that maybe we could call on our friend, Rydia, for help."

"Why would you want to do that?" The elder asked, going back to his drink again.

"Because she's a summoner, and she knows Leviathan," Cecil said, thinking that the elder would have known that. The elder choked on his tea and started coughing hard.

He regained his composure and asked in a clam voice, "Now, why on earth would you want to do that?"

"Because, if Leviathan has something to do with this, and Rydia knows him, she could help us," Cecil explained, now very confused, and remembering that the elder wasn't quite himself right now.

"And who said anything about Leviathan?" The elder asked, eyeing Cecil suspiciously.

"The dolphin. She said that their king answers to Leviathan," Cecil explained, feeling vexed.

"Oh… Yes, I remember now," The elder said reluctantly. "But still: I'm sure you don't need her help. You're a paladin. You can solve this on your own," He chided, pouring more tea into his cup, even though it wasn't halfway empty.

"Yes, we _do_ need Rydia's help. If we don't get her help, this crisis could last for a very long time," Angel reasoned.

The elder paused, and said, "Fine; there's a calling glass in my study, upstairs. Call on her if you must."

"Thank you," Angel said quickly, and ran up the narrow stairs, rousing Kain from his doze at the bottom of the steps.

"Wha-? It was Golbez, not me," He said, raising his hands in the air, as a sign of surrender.

"I know it wasn't you," Angel assured her uncle, and continued up the stairs.

"There's really no point in calling your summoner friend," The elder said from the bottom of the stairs. "There's no point in trying to fix this problem if you haven't succeeded already."

Angel turned and glared down at the elder, a disbelieving look on her face. "Give up?" She shouted, knowing that this _couldn't_ be the elder. "No way! There's a way to do this; we just need a little help," She said and kept running.

"But," The elder began, but Angel cut him off.

"So you _want_ this to go on?" She asked scornfully. The elder opened his mouth to say something, but he snapped his jaw closed and mumbled,

"Go about your business." Then he stormed back to the kitchen.

_Probably to drink more of that tea,_ Angel thought.

"What was that all about?" Kain asked, confused and a bit drowsy.

"It's nothing," Cecil dismissed, and followed his daughter up the stairs. "We'll be back later," He said over his shoulder, and he and Angel vanished through a door.

The study walls were lined with bookshelves, with all manner of old, leather-bound books. There was an unlit fireplace by the back wall, with a high-backed chair in front of it. In the corner was a big, wooden frame of some kind, with a big glass plate standing on it, like a mirror.

"That would be the calling glass," Cecil said, pointing to the wooden frame and walking over to it, beckoning Angel to follow him. She trotted after him, marveling at the structure. The wood was a deep, dark brown color, and the clear oval glass was so white against the wood that it was almost painful to look at. However, the more she looked at it, the more she could see a slight flicker a white magic in the glass.

_I wonder what we're going to do,_ She thought.

Cecil began chanting a spell beneath his breath; Angel wasn't sure which spell it was though. She knew that her father's knowledge of white magic spells was limited, and she couldn't guess which one he'd use on the calling glass.

"Sight," Cecil said in a clear voice, laying his hand on the glass. The magic in the glass flashed brightly, almost reluctantly, and the glass fogged up so thickly that Angel felt as if fog were clinging to her skin.

"Show me Rydia, the summoner queen of Eblan," Cecil requested the glass in a voice that was still clear, but a bit more relaxed than when he'd cast the sight spell. The fog began to shrink away from the glass leaving the surface clear and sparkling once more.

2222222222

Rydia was gazing out of her bedroom window at the sparkling blue expanse of the sea, which lay less than five or six miles away from the castle. All around the island, there was nothing going on. No monsters, no storms, no wars, nothing.

And that was Rydia's problem: there was nothing going on. And even if there _was_ something going on, no one would have let her help because of the baby. She was bored out of her mind, and it didn't look like her day was going to get any more exciting than it was now.

The door opened, and one of the castle maids walked in. "My lady, the calling stone in the white magic lab is requesting your presence," She said, but that was code for, "Someone's calling you".

"I'll be right there," Rydia said, turning away from the window and moving slowly to the door; having her equilibrium so off kilter was strange, and she was still getting used to it.

"Do you need any help?" The maid asked, knowing that several flights of stairs lay between Rydia and the white magic lab, and that stairs weren't the queen's cup of tea right now.

"Oh I'll be fine," Rydia assured the maid, and began chanting under her breath. "Teleport," she said, and disappeared.

When her world stopped spinning she was standing outside the white magic lab.

_I _knew_ that I re-learned that spell for a reason,_ she grinned to herself, opening the door and walking in.

All the mages in the room looked up from what they were doing and bowed to the queen. "None of that please," She told them all. "If I told you once, I've told you all one thousand times," She added as the mages stood up and went about their business. The head mage came forward, and escorted her to the other side of the room.

"It's only protocol, you know. And we white mages take protocol very seriously," He reminded her.

"I know, but I've never really gotten used to everyone treating me like a princess whenever I walk into a room," Rydia said, blushing a little.

"But you're a queen! What did you expect?" The head mage asked.

"I don't know," Rydia said, feeling flustered. "I just… Give me some room to make no sense: I'm pregnant. Isn't someone calling me?" She asked.

"Yes; I think it's the king and princess of Baron," He noted.

"Really?" Rydia asked, wondering and worried about why they would call her.

"Come right this way," The head mage said and led her to another room, where a calling glass hung on the wall. In its reflection, she could see Cecil and Angel look into the glass.

_I wonder how long they've been waiting for me; they look anxious,_ She thought.

"I'll let myself out," The mage said, and left the room.

Rydia came closer and walked to the glass and looked into it. "Can you two see and hear me?" She asked.

"Bright and clear, as always," Angel said, grinning.

"You both look worried; what's going on?" Rydia asked.

"Something's happening in Mysidia, and we think that Leviathan can help us," Cecil explained. "How fast can you get to Mysidia?" He asked.

Rydia's eyes lit up and she said, "Faster than you can blink. I'll be there before the day's out." She quickly left the room to tell Edge that she needed to borrow _Falcon_.

2222222222

Yay! Rydia's back in the story! Don't you just _love_ that?

So, anyways, things are about to get suspenseful; both above and below the water. You're all going to love it!

And I'm sorry that it took so long to finally finish this chapter. I've had serious writer's block, and I don't get time on the computer every day. My mom's having a baby next month, so I have a lot of cooking and cleaning to do solo. It's not a Cinderella story, but it _does_ takes up a ton of my time

So, off to another exciting chapter! Hasta la Vista, babies!


	12. The Games Get Dangerous

I'm pretty happy; I didn't think that I'd be writing as much as I am. And I don't have as much work as I'd expected. It's my freshman year in high school, so I naturally expected a lot more work. I've finished taking all my nine-week exams, and it's like pie! Yipee!

Anyways, let's find out what Sefi's up to…

2222222222

Chapter 11: The Games Get Dangerous

2222222222

Sefi hadn't really talked about her adventures with anyone yet; she felt a little lighter now that she was sharing her stories. Artiria seemed to be genuinely interested in it too. Sefi was pleased for the first time in an hour.

"When your sister was hurt by her alternate self, you were all pretty worried about her, weren't you?" Artiria asked, still remaining graceful and elegant, but so curious and excited at the same time; like a child listening to a ghost story.

"We were so scared; she just fainted, and she was hurt badly. Shoot, we thought that she would die. It still hurts her from time to time," Sefi explained.

"So she survived?" Artiria guessed.

"She's up there," Sefi said, pointing up to the surface. "I'd kinda like to know what she's doing right now; sororal instinct, I suppose," She added.

"So, anyway, what happened when you left the mountain?" Artiria asked.

"Well, Red suggested that we fly to her reef, Damcyan, so there we went. And Angel started getting better too. We were all so relieved," Sefi explained, remembering with fondness those three days of flight over the sea. "And I taught her how to drive the airship," Sefi added with a touch of pride.

Sefi was about to keep speaking, but a three dolphin cows swam over the coral wall and interrupted the story. The two in front looked very serious, and firm; the third looked nervous and distraught.

_I wonder what's going on._ Sefi wondered.

"Your majesty," One of the first two cows said strongly and clearly, "This is Silver. She wishes to speak with you." Sefi was struck; she knew that name from somewhere, but she didn't know where from.

Silver docilely swam forward and dipped her head to the queen. "What is wrong?" Artiria asked, sounding fully concerned.

"It's my calves," Silver explained, sounding like she was crying (although you couldn't see her tears in the water). "They're both badly hurt; I think my daughter might even be dying!" She wailed.

Artiria's face grew alert and serious. "How? What has happened?" She demanded.

Silver took a few deep breaths and explained as calmly as she could, "I think they were attacked by attacked by a shark."

"Take us to them," Artiria ordered. Silver nodded and led everyone in the room out. Sefi hesitated at first, remaining on Artiria's throne.

_She never asked me. I should stay here,_ She'd thought.

But then the queen turned around and said, "Sefi, are you coming? We can't wait if it's a shark."

Sefi was surprised but pleased. She hadn't expected this at all. She jumped up and swam after the group. "I'm coming, I'm coming," She said. "Thanks," She added.

"Think nothing of it. Stay close to me," Artiria requested, and kept swimming straight ahead.

2222222222

Back on the island, Angel was pacing back and forth on the front steps of the tower, keeping a close eye to the skies. When _Falcon_ arrived, she wanted to be the first to get to it. Though she was still wondering what the impending danger that she felt was bringing; and she hoped that it wouldn't affect Edge or Rydia in any way.

What was more, Angel was really starting to lose patience with her surroundings. The trees looked sad and tired, with their undead-looking leaves and the bark peeling off their branches and trunks. Every flower had wilted, and every bush had dropped its leaves. The sky was darkening too, and the sun was taking on the false sort of shade it always does when it's about to rain. It was the kind of yellow that was too good and lively to be true; almost a color that was just wrong for the sun to give off.

_'Yeah-right-yellow', I believe Sefi used to call it,_ Angel recalled, in reference to the sun. She stopped pacing, shaded her eyes with her hand, and looked as far across what she could see of the sky (in the direction that she knew Eblan was). _I hope the weather doesn't interfere with their flight,_ She prayed.

Luckily, it didn't: _Falcon_ appeared in the distance within minutes. _Finally,_ Angel thought, and re-entered the tower.

"Edge and Rydia are coming," She announced from the doorway. All the adults had sunken back into their bored dazes, and all looked up at her with a start; except for the elder, who wasn't in the room. Without waiting for anyone to respond, Angel dashed back out the door to meet the airship.

15 minutes later found the airship landing outside the city, and Angel running out to meet it. The princess skidded to a halt as the ship met the ground with a thump that, though it wouldn't have made the Richter Scale, shook the immediate land (which included Angel).

"Hullo, down there!" Edge called to her from the helm. Angel waved back, but didn't say anything. She was really looking for Rydia, somewhere on the deck; and the rather vain ninja might be hurt if he knew that she was specifically looking for his wife.

"Get yourselves together and come down here!" Angel yelled instead. "All questions will be answered at the tower."

2222222222

Once again, in the coral city, very few things were about and they scattered from the queen's approach. Sefi noticed, with some dismay, that there was a thin, almost invisible cloud of reddish-brown liquid near the surface of the water. She shuddered, nervous about this sign, and continued to follow the dolphin company to Silver's house.

Her house was a large rock, hollowed out on the inside. The rock struck Sefi as very clever, and her engineer side urged her to check it out thoroughly. However, Artiria told Sefi to wait for a minute while she looked over the hurt calves inside. Sefi obeyed and waited to be called on. Sefi didn't mind; she didn't know if she was ready to see exactly what kind of damage had been done to two helpless dolphin calves.

After a minute, Artiria came out of the rock and said, "You can come in now, if you'd like." Sefi took a deep breath, wondering if she really wanted to do this. She floated forward nervously, without realizing it for a second.

_I guess I'm coming,_ She thought.

She peered inside the rock, scared to know what she would see. As it turned out, it was far worse than she'd expected: the two hurt calves were Kivey and Sido, the twins she'd met earlier.

Both the calves carried deep cuts on their sides and fins. Sido had a long cut on his nose and a slash through his dorsal fin. But as bad as he looked, Kivey was worse. Half of her dorsal fin was missing: in its place were several jagged bite marks. A deep gash ran down her side, and half of her white underside was stained red. Sefi felt tears spring into her eyes.

_If it was a shark, he'll wish he'd stayed away from here,_ She thought vengefully.

Sido, who appeared to be sleeping, stirred and looked up at everyone with timid eyes. They brightened considerably when he saw Sefi there.

"You're that girl we met before," He whispered. Sefi smiled and nodded. "Are you going to help us?" He asked.

"Of course I am," Sefi answered resolutely. "Who did this to you?" She asked.

"A shark who called herself Jaggra," Sido explained in a soft voice. "She said that she's a princess," He added.

"I've heard of this Jaggra girl," Artiria said. "She's the shark princess, and she's a right foul creature. Though she's really no more than an adolescent, she can do as much damage as a full grown shark; more if she's up for it," She explained.

"Gets it from her mum," One of the guards put in. "That mother of hers is one lethal fish," She said.

"And you would know, now wouldn't you, Trivia," The other guard added. Trivia beamed with the pride of a veteran of some kind. Sefi now saw that a series of pale scars covered Trivia's side, fins and tail.

_So this trait runs in the family,_ Sefi thought grimly.

"What should be done?" Silver asked.

"There's only one possible thing to do," Artiria sighed, "And I don't even want to think about it."

"What is it?" Sefi asked.

Artiria paused, looked the group over, and said, "Someone must go to the near west, and find the antidote for shark's venom."

_Shark bites are venomous? _Sefi wondered, not remembering learning that shark bites were venomous as well as painful and unattractive things to suffer.

A gasp rose from the group of dolphins. "To the west lies the Shark Kingdom!" Silver cried.

"I know," Artiria said, nodding her head sadly. "Only a fool would go so close to that kind of danger."

"And no one even knows what the plant looks like," The second guard pointed out.

"Sefi! Sefi!" Someone nearby started yelling. Looking over the top of the rock, Sefi saw Palom and Porom swimming toward her as fast as they could, looking startled and harried. They stopped short of running into the big rock, and stopped to catch their breath (if they hadn't had the breath plant, they'd have drowned from this). From here, Sefi could now see that each twin sported a small cut on their face, and that some of Porom's hair had been cut off.

"What on the Blue Planet happened to you two?" She demanded.

"We got attacked by a shark," Palom said, still gasping for breath.

"She tried to bite my head off," Porom said, "But she got a mouthful of my hair instead, as you can see. It was strange; she seemed to go specifically for me, and ignored Palom until he tried to save me," She explained.

"Yeah," Palom said. "That's when she nearly took my arm off," He said, pulling up his sleeve and proudly displaying a series of small pin-hole cuts in his arm.

"Zapped her with my lightning spell before she could crunch," He said proudly, flashing a grin.

"You keep saying 'she'; how do you know the shark that attacked you was female?" Artiria asked.

"She said that her name was Jaggra. It sounded like a female name, and she had a female's voice, so we assumed that it was a 'she'," Palom explained.

"That's the same shark that attacked Kivey and Sido!" Sefi cried.

"They were attacked?" Porom asked, sounding as shocked as she looked.

"Jaggra _mauled_ Kivey; I'm surprised the poor thing got out alive!" Sefi said. She then went on to tell the twins about Jaggra being the shark princess, and about the dangerous trip to the Shark Kingdom to find an antidote for the shark venom (which she didn't know existed until just now).

"Shark venom only affects underwater life," Porom explained. "And, furthermore, I know what the cure looks like. I can go get it," She offered. Silver looked extremely relieved, but Artiria looked skeptical.

"If you were attacked by a shark, you might be in danger there. You'd need someone to accompany you, and you'll find no one willing to volunteer," She explained.

"I'll go with her," Palom said.

"And I'll come too," Sefi offered.

Trivia cleared her voice and said, "I'm in as well."

The other guard's eyes widened and she exclaimed, "What are you doing? You're going to get yourself killed!"

"I'll be darned if I don't get revenge for these while a party's going that way," Trivia explained, showing off her battle scars.

"Trivia, are you sure you want to do this?" Artiria asked nervously.

"Of course I'm sure," Trivia affirmed. "When do we leave?" She asked the humans.

"I was thinking in an hour or so; long enough to get some things together," Porom said with a shrug.

Trivia squeaked, turned a back-flip, and swam off yelling back to the group, "Don't leave without me! I'll be at the castle gate when you're ready to leave!"

"Well, someone's certainly enthusiastic," Palom noted.

"And optimistic," Porom added.

"Come on, you two," Sefi said, swimming away toward the castle. "We've got packing to do." The mages followed her, leaving the dolphins behind them.

"Your Highness, we've got to talk Trivia out of this," The second guard pleaded. "If she goes with them, she won't come back."

Artiria shook her head slowly. "There's nothing more that we can say to her, Vayne," She said. "She's made up her mind; and she has every right to seek revenge on Telu for what was done to her," She added, referring to the shark queen who'd given Trivia her collection of scars.

"So, you're not going to do anything?" Vayne demanded.

"No," Artiria answered. "I am the queen: I make the laws. You are a guard: you enforce those laws. But whether others actually _choose_ to follow those laws isn't up to us, now is it?" She reasoned.

"I don't understand," Vayne said.

"You and I don't control what others do, just their choices of what to do. Trivia made a choice; a very bad and foolish choice, but a choice, nonetheless. We can't control what she does, and she's going to do is follow the humans to the Shark Reef and try to get revenge," Artiria explained.

Vayne still didn't understand; _Why not just talk her out of it? _She wondered. _And, at any rate, those humans are idiots._

2222222222

(Nearly a month after writing the prologue)Phew! Finally! I'm done with this chapter! I thought it would _never_ wrap up!

Okay, where did everything start? Oh yeah: I threatened to kill my science class slowly and painfully (is there any other way?) because they got everyone into big trouble (even the good kids; including me). I got suspended for a week, and was banned from the computer up until just recently.

Secondly, remember how I said I was doing a lot of the cooking and cleaning because my mom was pregnant? Well, she had the baby earlier this month! I have a new brother! And so, things have been as hectic and chaotic as ever around here, and there's not much time to spare.

And thirdly, the only reason why this chapter wrapped up today was because I got sick and I'm using my sick day to finish this thing.

Some notes on the actual story: at the beginning of the story, when Sefi's telling her story to Artiria, she says, _Red suggested that we fly to her reef, Damcyan._ Sefi is speaking in terms that the dolphin can understand here; by "reef" she means "kingdom".

Now that Edge and Rydia are in Mysidia, Angel's going to start uncovering the truth about the elder very rapidly. He isn't to keen about having someone with a connection to Leviathan about, so (naturally) he's plotting against Rydia.

The sharks are characters that I think you'll all love, despite the fact that their evil. Their kingdom is a fleet of sunken ships, and they're ruled by ruthless queen Telu (TELL-oo), and her daughter, princess Jaggra (but you know about her already). More background on them next time.

One more thing before I go, in Vayne's name, the "ne" is silent; you just say the "Vay" part.

Well, more later. Things to do, places to see, dogs to buy and pigs to look at (as my Grandpa used to say). (And I apologize for my excessive use of parentheses.)


	13. Attack of the Sharks

Meanwhile, in the tower…

2222222222

Chapter 13: Attack of the Sharks

2222222222

"That _is_ pretty bad," Rydia admitted once she'd heard the entire story about what was going on.

"We know. Do you think that Leviathan can help us?" Cecil asked.

"If he couldn't I'd be surprised," Rydia said, and walked to the door. "I'll call on him by the water; so he won't have to travel so far," She explained. She stopped, turned back to the group and said, "Rosa, Edge, if you could both come with me?"

"Of course," Edge said cheerily, speaking for the first time. He jumped up from his chair and caught up with Rydia on the front step.

Rosa got up too and said, "You know where I'll be," to Cecil and Kain before going out the door and closing it behind her.

Angel, meanwhile, was in the kitchen getting a glass of water. The elder was still drinking that strange smelling tea, and, somehow, it was getting on Angel's nerves.

_It's just tea_, She thought, trying to calm herself. _Why are you so worried about tea?_

"What is that, anyway?" She asked.

"It's nothing that you should be concerned with," The elder dismissed.

"I wanna try it," Angel insisted, pouring the water out of her cup and seizing the teapot before the elder could stop her.

"Give me that back!" The elder demanded, calling the attention of the two men in the main room. Angel ignored this order and poured the tea into her cup. She raised the cup to her lips

_Why would a tea small so salty? _Shewondered, and took a big sip.

She chocked and spat the tea out on the kitchen floor, coughing all the while. "This is sea water!" She cried, not quite believing the salty taste on her tongue. "Why are you drinking sea water?" She demanded.

"Well… Uh… Er…" The elder mumbled, his eyes darting all about the place. He backed away from Angel, only to knock his elbow into his mug on the counter. The cup fell off the counter and shattered on the floor. To everyone's surprise, the content was a reddish-brown color; not blue-green like normal sea water.

"What else is it?" Kain inquired suspiciously.

"It's nothing! I swear!" The elder insisted.

"Don't lie; tell us what's going on," Cecil demanded.

"Never! I've done nothing wrong," The elder defended.

"That statement seemed like an oxymoron to me," Angel noted to her father and uncle.

"Tell us what you're hiding, elder," Cecil said forcefully, drawing his sword. Kain and Angel followed suit.

"Tell us now," Kain added.

"I'll fight first," The elder stated, his palms beginning to glitter with a lightning spell.

2222222222

At the edge of the sea (which was iridescent green now), Rydia stood casting the summon-spell for Leviathan, flanked by Rosa and Edge. The summoner was a bit surprised: it took quite a bit of energy out of her now to cast a summons. When she finished, she felt like she'd just shed 50 pounds of lead from her shoulders. The feeling of Rosa's heal-spell was a welcome relief.

"He should be here soon," She assured her companions, breathing deeply.

"Are you alright, Rydia?" Rosa asked. "You look a little pale," She noted.

"No, I'm fine. I'm just a bit tired; surely _you_ of all people can understand," Rydia said, with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"No, she's right, honey," Edge said, "You do look a little pale. Maybe you should go back inside."

"You're both just being paranoid. I'm fine; if you want to blame something, blame the baby," Rydia insisted.

"Well allow me to be paranoid; not many people get to have their killed wives resurrected," Edge pointed out.

"Well the call's been sent out; I have to wait for Leviathan now," Rydia explained. "Someone help me sit down," She requested. Rosa and Edge helped Rydia ease herself onto the dry, grass-specked sand to wait, all of them eager to see Leviathan and get his help.

Rosa suddenly went stiff and her eyes went glassy with deep concentration. "What is it, Rosa? What do you see?" Edge asked. Rosa didn't answer right away; once she came out of her stupor, she stood up.

"I've got to go back to the tower: the others are in trouble. You two stay here and wait for Leviathan," She directed, and ran for the tower, not allowing time for either Edge or Rydia to ask questions.

"I hope it's not too serious," Rydia murmured.

"I'm sure it's not, dear," Edge assured her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "I wouldn't worry about it."

2222222222

When Rosa opened the door to the tower and walked inside, she heard loud snarling and yelling from the kitchen. She ran to the door and looked in. The sight she was greeted with made her shriek: a shark with two legs instead of a tail was battling Cecil, Kain and Angel.

Though Rosa had cried out, no one paid her any notice. The shark was quick and his teeth were barred, threatening to bite (and probably kill) anyone who looked away from battle. The shark, however, was severely threatened himself: the humans were all very good with the weapons they had, and two of them were paladins. One look away could have been a fatal mistake to anyone.

Rosa ran back to the living room and grabbed her bow and quiver of arrows from their spot by the stairs, ready to help her family slay the shark. She was about to go back to the kitchen but then she felt another vibe, beckoning her up the stairs and to what she thought was the third door down the hall. She didn't understand it, and she wanted to fight the shark, but the vibe was far too strong for her to ignore. She followed it up the stairs, an arrow notched in her bow in case another shark awaited her on the second story.

She found no more sharks behind the door that called to her: the room, as it was, was a completely normal bedroom. And judging by the way it was decorated, Rosa assumed that the room belonged to Porom. The only furniture was a bed, a desk, a chair, and a dresser. The bed looked like it hadn't been made in a while. The desk and dresser were covered in several layers of paper, books, pens and ink wells, and on top of that was a thin layer of dust.

_It looks like Porom hasn't been here in a while,_ Rosa thought, noting the dust. _I didn't know that she was such a messy person,_ She added, factoring in the clutter on the desk and dresser and the unmade bed. _But none of that makes sense: Porom is one of the most organized people I've ever met. And why wouldn't she come in her own room long enough for all that dust to accumulate?_

Looking to the back wall of the room, Rosa also saw a door of dark brown wood with a brass knob. A new vibe told her to go to the door and open it. The white mage broke out in a clammy sweat; she was nervous about what she would find behind that door. Nonetheless, she approached the door and slowly opened the door……

It turned out to be a closet, and, other than several dresses and a few mage's robes that _definitely _belonged to Porom, it was empty. Rosa even went through the clothes hanging there, but found nothing. She got down on her knees and scanned the floor; here she turned out a piece of paper with a note scribbled on it:

_Help me! I'm hiding in the study! Find Telu to find other answers!_

Rosa knew the elder's handwriting well enough to know that he'd written it. But the elder couldn't have been in the study: Cecil and Angel had been in the study not one hour ago, and the elder would have made himself known when they walked in if he was there.

The snarling downstairs stopped suddenly, leaving the house strangely quiet.

"Rosa!" Cecil called to her. "Come down here, quick!"

"I'm coming!" Rosa yelled back, going back to the door with the elder's note in her hand.

When she walked back into the kitchen, the shark was lying on the floor, bleeding blue blood on the tiles. Angel's sword was covered in the sticky blue liquid all the way up to the hilt, meaning that she must have dealt the killing blow. The shark's gills still rippled, struggling to get air; he was still alive, despite the deep cut down his side that must have been Angel's doing.

"Who are you?" Kain demanded, asking the question that weighted on everyone's minds.

"I am… king Mammoth," The shark gasped in a gravely, strained voice. "You'll… never… find what you're looking for: they'll never come… back……"

The shark was still. Not one thing about him moved.

"What did he mean by that?" Angel wondered aloud. There was a long, unnerving silence as everyone realized the answer to Angel's question: Palom, Porom and Sefi were in danger.

"Someone go check on Rydia. Find out how far away Leviathan is now," Cecil instructed.

"I'll be back," Angel said and ran for the door. It closed with a slam and Rosa held up the note she'd found.

"This was in Porom's room," She said, handing it to Cecil. He read it quickly and passed it to Kain.

"He wasn't in the study; Angel and I would have found him if he was," Cecil pointed out.

"Exactly," Rosa said.

"Does anyone know who Telu is?" Kain asked.

"I'd like to know where the elder is now," Cecil stated, thinking that he wouldn't like the answer.

"What do we do with him?" Kain asked, pointing to the dead shark on the floor.

"We clean it up," Cecil said with a shrug. "What else is there to do with him?"

"Let's get started then," Rosa said, casting float on the carcass and pointing to the door.

2222222222

Beneath the water, Palom, Porom and Sefi were traveling toward the shark kingdom, accompanied by Trivia the dolphin guard. Trivia had many scary stories to tell the humans about Telu, the shark queen. Telu had given Trivia most of the scars on her side when they were both children, and she had been looking for her revenge ever since. Telu had been a cruel and ruthless creature as a child, and as a queen she was 15 times worse. Princess Jaggra was no better than her mother, and it looked like she was following in her mother's fins.

"They have a king too. King Mammoth, the Smaller-than-Most," Trivia explained, "But he's been away recently; we think he might have something to do with king Conch's disappearance."

"It certainly sounds plausible," Porom said.

"But for right now, we're after the crazy queen and her daughter," Palom said cheerily. "I can't wait for them to taste my lightning spell," He added.

"I certainly hope you aren't getting you're hopes too high with that spell of yours," Trivia warned. "This is going to be hard, even with your spells."

"Well it will be a heck of a lot easier with me," Palom said proudly. Porom smacked Palom's head.

"Don't be so vain," Porom scolded.

"Someone's coming this way," Sefi announced, pointing to a large dark colored object coming towards them.

"Shark," Trivia said bluntly. "Everyone brace yourselves."

The shark was swimming closer with an alarming speed. He stopped in front of them and eyed them suspiciously with his beady and hollow black eyes. He was of average size, with a blue-black head and back and an underside that was so white next to his top that it was almost painful to look at.

"So then, what's this? A dolphin and three land-walkers in our territory?" He asked, grinning evilly and showing all of his white-yellow teeth.

"Absolutely!" Trivia said proudly. "We must speak with that slug who you call queen, concerning her daughter's questionable behavior," She stated as matter-of-factly as a school councilor.

"Ha! What business do you have with the way our lovely young princess is growing up? She will be twice the queen her mother is one day," The shark said, sounding very proud of the way that Jaggra was being raised.

"That is exactly what we were here to discuss with Telu. Your 'lovely young princess' attacked and nearly killed one of our calves and these two mages," She said, nodding at Palom and Porom. "There's an agreement between our two reefs that we'll stay away from here if you'll stay away from us, and Jaggra broke that pact. So, here _I_ am."

"And so are _we_," Palom added.

The shark snorted at him and asked, "What do the matters of the sea concern a prince like you? Shouldn't you be upstairs, conjuring up fire and ice and the like in your palms, or something?"

"We're here to find out what has happened to King Conch," Porom explained stoutly.

"And we all know that you must have something to do with it," Sefi put in.

"Oh… So _that's_ what this is all about. Queen Telu always did blame you dolphins for the poison; not keeping up with what you owe to the Great King, causing the rest of us pain… And some of us a smorgasbord, hehehehe," The shark laughed.

The water around Palom started bubbling with heat, and his palms flickered with tiny lightning bolts. Porom put a restraining hand on her brother's shoulder and whispered, "Calm down. There's no point in losing energy on _this_ clump of seaweed." Palom reluctantly realized that his sister was right and the water stopped bubbling.

"The queen will be interested in this; come and meet her," The shark teased.

"We're all right behind you," Trivia stated. The shark grinned again and swam away, clearly meaning for everyone to follow him.

Everyone was close behind him when he abruptly spun around and Sefi found her face so close to his that he could have bitten it off. "And what of you?" He demanded. "You've barely spoken a word. Are you mute?" He asked, meaning to insult her.

"A word," Sefi said casually. "Huh?" The shark asked, confused. "You said I haven't spoken a word, so I spoke 'a word'. Are you satisfied that I'm not a mute now?" Sefi explained.

"Sassiness won't get you anywhere where you're going. You're lucky I don't bite that lovely purple head of yours off right now. You watch your mouth from now on." The shark warned and turned away to lead the party onward.

"He's right, you know," Porom whispered to Sefi. "Being smart with these sharks could mean death; maybe for all of us."

"But the sharks will respect you if you show that you're not intimidated easily. Startled, fine; but if you show signs of being dominated easily they will overpower you," Trivia said. "Keep that edge about you; that could come in awful handy later. But listen to what the mage says and don't be too saucy or they'll be insulted and lash out at you," She advised.

"So don't be too quiet, like Porom, and they'll respect you enough to leave you be for a while," Palom ventured, earning a menacing glare from Porom.

"But if you're too _loud_, like _Palom_, they'll eat you alive," She added. Palom just grinned maddeningly at his sister and didn't seem to be upset by the remark at all.

"Something like that," Trivia agreed. "This one here seems to have some idea of when to use sharp words, soft words, and when to be silent all together," She said, pointing her fin at Sefi, who blushed a little bit. "Let's try and follow her speaking patterns, alright?"

"Not too loud, not to quiet; nobody's insulted and nobody's moved to use us for doormats. I like it," Palom agreed. "If Sefi speaks, I'll speak too," He said.

"Me too," Porom added.

Sefi felt embarrassed. No one had ever really followed her every move except for when she'd taught Red to fly the airship two months earlier. But at least they would be alright for a while if they did as she did.

_But I should be doing what _they're_ doing! I'm the youngest person here! Palom and Porom are both 20 and we don't even know how old Trivia is (though one gets the impression that she's even older than dad). I'm just 14!_ She thought.

_This is wrong. Fun and a bit exciting, but too offbeat for me to handle._

_Offbeat… That's how Angel and I used to describe ourselves, _She remembered. _Offbeat didn't matter to us before, because that was what we were: offbeat. So, if this is such a strange position to be in why is it bothering me? It wouldn't have bothered me before---_

_Our excursion, two months ago… I've changed since then. I've grown up somewhere between now and Mount Ordeals,_ She realized. _And didn't I want to be a leader in the first place? I'm the shining example now; what perfect practice!_

She didn't mind playing follow-the-leader so much anymore.

2222222222

On the island, the Baronians were all outside on the beach, relaying their shark adventure to Edge and Rydia.

"Do you think Leviathan can answer our questions?" Angel asked Rydia.

"I'm sure that he can; he _is_ lord of the sea," The summoner assured the paladin.

"And what's going to happen to the kids?" Kain asked nervously.

Rydia hesitated before admitting that she didn't know what Leviathan would be wiling to do to help them. "The poison, the sharks, and the missing dolphin king: that's an awful lot he has to do; for non-summoners and even for _me_," She explained. "I don't know how much I can talk him into doing for us after the really important things." She could already hear Leviathan's voice yelling at them about the kids: _Your kids, _your_ problem! What does it matter to me if they live or die?_

_He _would_ say it, and he _would_ mean it. I hope he helps them, _Rydia thought.

About 36 quiet minutes later (at which point the water was changing back to pink), the water began to stir and the ground rumbled.

"What was that?" Rosa asked, thinking that she already knew the answer.

"It's Leviathan; finally," Rydia confirmed, standing back up with Edge's help.

Completely without warning, giant sea serpent rose from the water only a quarter of a mile from the shore and bellowed so loud that the whole ocean probably could have heard it. The monster's scales were a light blue, almost the same color of the sky (he would have disappeared into the blue sky if it wasn't for the cloud bank behind him, which still seemed to promise rain). He vanished in a sudden whirl of mist, which quickly evolved into a tornado-like funnel that began spinning rapidly toward the beach. Everyone backed away from where they'd been, giving the twister room to land. When it made contact with the sand, the twister blew sand and water everywhere, spraying everyone with wet sand and drenching them with sea spray.

The funnel evaporated as quickly as it had appeared and in its place stood a little old man in a brown cloak and a wooden staff that stood above his head His head was bald, but he had a long brown beard. His face was weathered with time, and his skin was tan with wise-looking brown eyes.

_Is it just me or does everything about this guy seem brown?_ Angel wondered.

"Leviathan! At last, you're here! Where have you been?" Rydia cried and ran up to Leviathan, kneeling down to embrace him.

"Rydia, my dear! It's so good to see you again. I do apologize for being so late, but when I got your call I went to Eblan and didn't find you there. When I searched your call more carefully I found it had been sent from around here so I had to backtrack a bit; got lost in my own silly ocean. Silly me," The old man explained.

"_That's_ Leviathan?" Angel quietly asked her parents.

"Don't sound so shocked," Cecil advised. "Many summons can shape shift like that. They come in summon form, but when they need to hang around or interact with people, they transform into something completely different," He explained.

"Aha! Look who it is!" Leviathan said, directing his gaze at Cecil, Rosa and Kain. "You're all looking well I see. 14 years has been far too long. I didn't know you had a daughter," He said, looking kindly at Angel (who blushed and looked away)

"Yes, yes, yes, you remember them, and that's Cecil and Rosa's oldest daughter, Angel; I really do wish that you would be serious for a moment," Rydia complained.

"What? I was just trying to be social," Leviathan stated.

"I understand that, master, but when I called you I said that there was an emergency and three kids are down there trying to resolve it. We need your help," Rydia reminded the summons.

"Well, seeing as you're all _here_, I assume that it has something to do with those dolphins and the water problem they've created," Leviathan said, sounding disgusted with the dolphins. "They haven't paid their tribute in weeks."

"A question," Kain said, raising his hand up a little bit. "Why exactly can't anyone but the king get this alleged boulder from this one place for that cave?"

"So you know the story," Leviathan said vaguely. "It's no ordinary boulder, you see. The boulder I request is made of a certain mineral; it's only found in the oceans, and only around this area. It's very lightweight; anyone could pick up one of those boulders. We need that mineral to power the sun of the underworld, Magma.

"I would get it myself, but I cannot touch it in its unrefined state. So I have the dolphin king deliver it to a cave where one of my minions retrieves it for us, brings it to a workshop where it is refined, and then I can handle it. The idea of all of this (the underworld, sun, etcetera) is just so far beyond the dolphins, that I had to make up the poison so that they wouldn't ask questions. I thought I was saving them some heartbreak," Leviathan explained rather sadly.

"So where did the poison come from if you made it up?" Rosa asked.

"That, I do not know. In her bad moods, Asura sometimes tells me that it would be funny to actually make that poison and set out on the ocean if the tribute ever does go unpaid. But I _care_ for the oceans: I could never do anything of that nature to deliberately hurt it or any of its inhabitants," Leviathan explained.

"We think the sharks might have something to do with it," Cecil offered. "One of them, he called himself king Mammoth, has been posing as the elder of this island for an unknown period of time. We, Kain, Angel and myself, slew him earlier today," He explained.

"Ah… He would be the Shark King," Leviathan answered. "Funny though," He mused, "His name was Mammoth, and yet he's smaller than most sharks; even the shark princess is a bit bigger than he now."

"A _Shark_ Princess?" Angel asked, wondering suddenly if underwater creatures went so far as to have even dukes and duchesses.

"Oh yes," Leviathan assured her, nodding his head. "She's called Jaggra; which I believe means 'wild' in the common tongue. Vicious creature to come across, if I'm correct," He added.

"Did you happen to pass wherever it is that these sharks live?" Rydia asked, sounding hopeful but worried.

"I passed near there," Leviathan said. "Their 'kingdom' is a cluster of sunken ships, nearly 20 miles out, where those rocks jut out of the water," He said, pointing at a bunch of small gray spikes far out in the west.

"Is it possible that they've taken our helpers?" Angel asked, forgetting that Leviathan didn't know about Palom, Porom and Sefi yet.

"You sent people down there?" Leviathan asked, puzzled.

"We sent two mages and our second daughter, Sefi, to help the dolphins while we came up with a plan," Rosa explained.

"Breath plant?" Leviathan inquired, receiving a confirming nod from the queen.

"Amazing; not many dolphins trust people enough to offer them breath plant. It's considered a high honor by the dolphins for a human to receive the breath plant," Leviathan explained.

"But they were desperate for help," Kain said rather loudly. "The herald they sent spent all last night and half of this morning trying to get someone to notice it; the shark-who was masquerading as the elder-told us not to pay attention to it (not surprisingly, now that we know the truth), but we finally talked him into seeing about it. The dolphin asked two mages, Palom and Porom, to come and help and they agreed. So the dolphin left and came back with some of the breath plant for them. There was still some left over, so Angel's twin, Sefi, decided to tag along," He explained, turning blue from saying so much in only three breaths.

"Hm," Leviathan said, trying to hide how amusing he'd found Kain's speech. "I see. In that case, if they've been discovered, I'd say it's a distinct possibility," He said, and told them something like what Artiria had said to Sefi about how the various sea creatures react to things.

_I should have gone with Sefi,_ Angel thought bitterly when Leviathan finished speaking. _She's probably in trouble, and I could have helped! What was wrong with me?_

_You did the right thing,_ Cecil assured her, using telepathy (another ability Angel had gained). _If you weren't here, we wouldn't have thought to call Rydia; you were the one who got curious enough to try that 'tea' the shark was drinking. Kain, your mother and I never would have done any of that. They can all take care of themselves. They'll be fine,_ He told her, hoping that this knowledge would comfort her.

Angel sighed heavily, realizing that he was right. _Thanks, daddy,_ She said. _I'd still like to know what's going on down there, though._

_Leviathan will take care of all that. He's Lord of the Sea, remember?_ Cecil reminded her. _Speak of the devil, he's talking again._

"I'll see what I can do about King Conch," Leviathan assured everyone. "The sharks might have _him_ too. The sharks bow to three things: their royalty, bigger sharks, and me. If I ask them, they won't lie to me. Any captives they have will be freed," He promised. He nodded to the party (he bowed to Rydia) and walked back to the water's edge. He stopped as his feet touched the water and bet down to pick up something limp and shiny from the foam. He eyed it and looked back at everyone.

"Leftover breath plant," He named it. The Baronians suddenly remembered how Sefi had divided her portion of breath plant in half and offered one half to Angel. Angel had refused to come, so Sefi had left that half on the beach. No one had given it a second thought.

Edge and Rydia marveled at it; it was among the strangest plants they'd ever seen (and they'd both seen some interesting plants in their time). Leviathan handed the silvery plant to Edge and said, "Make yourself useful and hold this. I sense that someone will need it before the day is out. The tide is coming in; I must go to the Shark Kingdom and find out what is going on."

Once again he transformed into a cyclone of mist and wet sand, which spiraled off into the deep water. Once out far enough, the great water serpent leaped from the twister's center and dove into the water. Water splashed everywhere, leaving a crater in the water for only a few seconds as water rushed to fill it. A large wave enveloped a good bit of the small beach soon after, making everyone scurry out of the way.

Leviathan was gone.

"Wow," Angel whispered.

2222222222

Whew! Eight pages worth! I think that's the longest chapter this story's had so far!

Goshness, this was a fun chapter to write. I've kinda made a lot of this story up a I went down the road; just sat down and saw where it went as I wrote it (I had the first part of the story mapped out from the start!). I think it's going pretty well, but if y'all think it could be better, please tell me. I always appreciate ideas.

I once again apologize for the delay in updating. The baby's been a bit of a hassle, but it's going well. _He's_ _soooo_ _cute_! I wish you guys could see him (I'm 14 and I have a month old baby brother; who knew?).

I guess that's about all I have to say. Onto the next chapter, where thing will be wrapping up shortly. Bye!


	14. Much Dicovering is Done

Meanwhile, in the Shark Kingdom…

2222222222

Chapter 15: Much Discovering is Done

2222222222

As the underwater party swam along after the shark-guard, patches of a bluish seaweed-like plant became more and more frequent. It started out as just s little bit every now and then, but it soon became plentiful in large groups every yard or so. Porom looked extremely unhappy about this; when Sefi asked why, Porom explained that it was the shark's bane; the plant that would cure Kivey.

Unfortunately, the faint path that they followed was narrow, and kept away from the plant, not allowing anyone to stray from the path to collect any of it.

In one patch, not too far away, one shark swam around in circles, looping and spinning after a small fish that continued to elude it. As they approached, the guard called,

"Ah! Little-Wild-One! I was wondering where you'd gotten to," the shark guard called.

The shark stopped chasing the fish, looked up and answered, "Oh, hello, Bane." She immediately went back to the fish, which was trying to make an escape.

"Jaggra, hold still: I've got something far more filling than a pathetic little fish," The guard, Bane, assured the other shark.

_So _that's_ princess Jaggra,_ Sefi thought, looking the shark over. Jaggra was a bit smaller than Bane, but she was colored similarly with a dark blue top and a white underside. Her eyes were a dark purple, several shades darker than Sefi's hair, which was unusual for a shark (most sharks have black eyes).

Jaggra kept circling after the fish for a minute, completely ignoring what Bane had just said. Then she looked up and saw who was behind the guard and she smiled evilly.

"I know you two," She cooed to Palom and Porom. "I took a snap at you earlier today, didn't I?"

"Ya sure did," Palom agreed. "Got away before I could get you though," He added.

"Oh no," Jaggra said slyly, shaking her head and turning to the side, showing a pale starburst scar on the side of her head. "You got me _good_, my prince," She informed him. Palom smirked; it was nice handiwork, in his opinion.

"They wish to see you mother," Bane said mockingly.

Jaggra laughed. "What fools! They must be crazy!" She said. "They'll never live through the day!"

"Shush!" Trivia demanded, moving forward abruptly, taking everyone by surprise. "We demand to see Telu right now!"

Jaggra looked startled; no one, much less a dolphin, had ever spoken to her like that. The princess shied away from Trivia, who wore an air of confidence and superiority about her like a cloak. Trivia stared Jaggra dead in the eye, almost challenging her to retort her, but Jaggra said nothing; she simply returned the gaze, her great, sharp jaw hanging open in either awe or disbelief.

_Jaggra's intimidated, just like Trivia said,_ Sefi realized, feeling a twinge of pride and accomplishment that she thought was out of place.

"Let's go then," Jaggra said, finally breaking the silence, and leading everyone away, toward a slight dip in the ground that led to a cluster 15 ships. Many of the ships should have been smashed to pieces when they were impaled by or crashed into the tall, spirally rocks that sunk them, but there they were; and each one was inhabited by sharks. The first one in front of the group was the biggest and grandest of them all: the Shark Castle, where they would at last meet the evil queen Telu.

_I sure do hope that we come out intact,_ Sefi thought desperately. _No sister of mine is going to become a queen without me to witness it,_ She told herself. _I'm going to get out of here for Angel; she's darn useless without me,_ She vowed to herself. Angel would need her soon, so she had to come back to the surface alive.

2222222222

Upstairs, however, everyone had big problems of their own. They mainly revolved around the note that Rosa had found in Porom's closet: firstly, they still didn't know who this Telu person was (no one had remembered to ask Leviathan if he knew her), and secondly, most importantly, where was the elder now?

And, though they all checked every inch of the tower, the courtyard, and even sent Angel, Rosa and Rydia down the beach (in both directions), they couldn't find a single trace of the elder _anywhere_.

"I can't take much more of this," Angel stated as she and the two queens were returning to the tower from scouring the beach for clues. "The elder has vanished and my sister and two best friends have shark problems. I'm going to have a nervous breakdown if we don't get an answer of some kind soon," She informed, rubbing her temples in a vain attempt to ward off a headache.

"Leviathan will help your sister and friends," Rydia assured the princess.

"What if he gets there too late?" Angel inquired, trying to jam her thumbs deeper into her temples (her headache was getting steadily worse).

"20 miles isn't far for Leviathan," Rydia said. "He'll be there in no time."

"He'd better be there in time," Angel said crossly, remembering that Leviathan thought that someone would use the breath plant before the day was done. _Was he trying to tell me something?_ She wondered. _Should I take it and go after the others... It would be pointless: Leviathan's on his way there now; I won't be able to do anything except tire myself out,_ She decided.

_Stop worrying yourself; that's half the reason for your headache. Your job right now is to find out what happened to the elder,_ She told herself. Slowly, and somewhat reluctantly, she began to relax. Her headache seemed to stay the way it was though; she tried to vibe-search, and got only a sharper pain in her head. She cast a quick heal spell on herself to take the bite off of it.

_Mom's got the vibe-work under control,_ She reminded herself, glancing at Rosa (who'd been very quiet that whole walk). Her eyes were glassy with concentration, and they seemed to stare at something beyond the ground.

_I wonder what she's seeing…_

2222222222

Beneath the water, only 10 miles out now, Leviathan sped towards the sunken fleet, hoping to end this whole water problem. With a twinge, he noted that the water was beginning to change blood red. He hoped that it wasn't a bad omen.

_I should be little more than halfway there by now,_ He guessed. _It won't be long now. Good thing for those kids they sent down: if I know those sharks (and I do), they'll probably give the poor trio problems they won't be able to handle._

2222222222

The inside of the sunken Shark Castle was very dark and cold. The shark guards who loitered about didn't seem to mind it, but it sent shivers through their guests.

_I can't run off,_ Sefi told herself, battling the urge to swim away into the warm sunlight. _I've got to do this, I've got to do this, I've got to do this…_

"Calm down," Porom advised her, sensing how nervous Sefi was. "We'll be fine."

"I know, but this place gives me the creeps. I want to get out of here now!" Sefi admitted.

"Then let's make this visit snappy, alright?" Porom suggested.

"How about 'quick' instead of 'snappy', huh?" Sefi requested, shivering again with the thought of killer jaws clamping down on her.

A cluster of smaller sharks was milling around nearby, whispering amongst itself. Some of them suddenly glanced up at the strangers and went right back to their conversation, sniggering all the way. Sefi tried not to let it get to her, but it was difficult (what teenager can ignore people laughing at her?). She was finally letting it go when one of the sharks from the cluster appeared in front of her.

"Hey there. Whatcha doin'?" He asked in a rather mocking voice.

"Nothing," Sefi replied, remembering that he would leave her alone if she showed that he wasn't bothering her (even if he really was).

"So why are you here? You can hang out somewhere else," He pointed out.

"But I want to hang out _here_. You can't stop me," Sefi said.

"And if we want you (and your friends) to leave?" The shark asked, putting a growl into his voice.

"We're not leaving until we've seen your crazy queen," Palom informed him, touching the shark's nose with his finger and giving him a light zap. The shark snorted and swam back to his friends.

"And that's the end of that," Palom stated proudly, winking at his companions, only to get slapped by Trivia.

"That was not a very good idea," She informed him crossly.

"Hey!" Bane yelled at them from somewhere up ahead. "Do you want to see the queen or get your heads bitten off?"

"Not like you won't get your heads bitten off either way," Jaggra added.

"Don't lose your tails; we're coming," Trivia barked back. She gave all the sharks around a warning look and caught up with her guides with the humans right behind her.

After 10 minutes of wandering the lower decks of the gigantic ship there came a pair of rotting wooden doors. Bane and Jaggra halted in front of them and turned to the party behind them.

"I'll go and tell my mother that you're here," The princess said, nudging the left door open with her nose and squirming inside the small space she'd made for herself.

After that, all that could be heard was whispering in the form of snarls and growls. It had gone on like this for about five minutes when a rumble began to build up in the distance. The ship creaked and rocked as the rumble got louder and louder (and therefore, closer and closer). The whispering in the other room quieted as the rumble slowly came to attention. Bane's eyes began flashing about suspiciously.

The rumble slowly grew to a roar and still it grew louder and louder. Somewhere, a shark screamed, and someone else shouted, "The Lord of the Seas is coming! It's Leviathan!"

"Rydia," Sefi guessed, smirking in spite of the situation.

Without a warning, a great blue serpent appeared though one of the windows, and swam straight up to the deck. Everyone heard Jaggra scream loudly as the beast continued to swim straight up to the deck. Once he was past the window (several minutes later), the screams from the deck and the other floors continued, but died down a little bit.

"WHERE IS TELU?" A voice thundered from above. The ship shook once more, nearly falling apart this time. There came no answer to the question: just utter silence.

Jaggra burst out of the room and knocked the three humans to the floor. Bane went for Trivia, but she dodged him, and he went flying into the wall and made hole where he landed. When he stopped and recovered from his crash he was outside the ship and Trivia was coming at him. Bane dodged her and swam back into the ship through the hole he'd made with the enraged dolphin close behind him.

Meanwhile, Jaggra had Sefi and Palom pinned to the floor, and Porom had her hand stuck in a hole in the floor. Though the white mage struggled to get free, she couldn't get out. Palom couldn't reach his knife, Sefi couldn't reach her sword, and Porom didn't even have a weapon.

"Whatever it is that Lord Leviathan wants, it must have something to do with you," She reasoned. "And he's not going to hurt us because of what you did." She suddenly snatched Sefi's arm in her mouth and dragged the girl out of the new hole in the wall. Faintly they could hear the twin mages scream Sefi's name but, aside from that, all that they could hear was water rushing past them.

Sefi had been scared when Jaggra took her away, but she now noticed that the shark just had enough pressure on her arm so that she couldn't get away and so that she could be dragged along. Sefi's arm was still intact and the bone wasn't even broken. She bled a little, but that was really the extent of the damage. And, what was even better, Sefi could reach her sword.

However, before Sefi could reach her blade, Jaggra began swimming upward, toward the deck. When they came over the railing and into view, the first thing that they saw was the great serpent. The sight of the great blue snake left both princesses speechless for several seconds. But Jaggra shook herself quickly and hollered, "Hey, Leviathan! Look over here!"

All attention turned to the shark and the purple haired girl with her. "If you want questions answered," Jaggra said, "Then I'd suggest asking her." She smacked Sefi's back with her tail and sent her flying forward uncontrollably. Sefi hit something hard and big. When she looked up she found herself staring into a pair of kind, wise looking brown eyes set into a broad, sky-blue face.

"Are you Sefi of Baron?" Leviathan asked her in a gentle but urgent voice. Sefi nodded shakily, surprised, but not really surprised, that the summons knew who she was.

"Good," Leviathan said. "I need to speak with you."

Before Leviathan could go on, a streak of white and dark blue rammed into Sefi's side and knocked her away from the serpent. When Sefi came to she expected to be facing Jaggra, but the shark in front of her was a new acquaintance. This shark was a little bit longer than Jaggra. Her head and back were a lighter shade of blue than normal, but her beady eyes were so black that it was like staring at two coals.

The shark roared and charged at Sefi again, but sailed off into empty space when Sefi dodged. The shark spun around, lowered her head, and charged at Sefi again. Sefi whipped out her sword and braced herself for the oncoming attack.

"Mother! Look out!" Jaggra cried. Sefi looked back at the princess, shocked.

"_Mother_?" She nearly screamed. Before she had time to say more her attacker was on her, and Sefi barely had her block up in time. The shark bit into the thick steel sword, and pulled away sputtering.

The shark, queen Telu, roared again and came at Sefi as fast as her tail could propel her. Sefi brought the blade of her sword down on Telu's right fin and the queen screeched. But rather than fix her bleeding fin, she charged again and yielded another gash on her left side. After that, Jaggra joined the game, determined to help her mother win the day.

The two sharks began working in sync, forcing Sefi to look over her shoulder for attacks from the rear and getting attacked from the front. A sudden burst of crackling yellow light burst up from the deck and forked out two different ways. One ray hit Jaggra and the other hit Telu.

Mother and daughter tried to shake it off, but found their movement slowed. Sefi took that opportunity to look and see who her savior was: it was Palom, with Porom and Trivia next to him.

"Not long now!" Palom called up to her cheerfully.

Sefi breathlessly nodded her thanks and returned to her battle. It was going much better, now that the sharks were paralyzed; at some points they couldn't move at all. However, Telu's paralysis began to wear off and she got faster. And Sefi was tiring fast now; Telu was gaining odds.

Sefi continued to fight with all that she could muster, but she was losing badly now. If Telu got to her arms or her shoulders, she wouldn't stand a chance. She had to do something really big _really_ fast.

While Telu backed up to make another charge, Sefi began twirling her sword back and forth in her hand, going a little bit faster each time. Telu charged, completely relived of her paralysis. Sefi continued to twirl her sword until Telu was right in front of her and then she thrust her sword forward as hard as she could, planting her sword deep inside the queen's chest. She pulled the blade back out as quickly as she'd pushed it in and forced herself up in as much of a jump as she could do underwater. As she fell back down quickly, she aimed her sword down and landed with it sunk deep into the shark's back.

_Thank you, uncle Kain, for showing me how to do that this morning,_ She thought, wondering why her arms were neither broken or as limp as overboiled noodles (as she'd predicted that morning).

Though Telu was hurt very badly, she still breathed roughly, like sandpaper rubbing across steel. Trivia appeared beside Sefi and said, "Do you mind if I do the honors?"

Sefi shook her head. "Go on," She whispered. Trivia grinned at the princess.

"Just don't make me watch," Sefi requested. She shut her eyes just before the sound of sharp dolphin teeth ripping through flesh, Telu's final screeches of pain and terror, and Jaggra's distraught and horrified wails met her ears.

2222222222

Back in the tower, while everyone was trying to think of what to do next, Cecil, Rosa and Angel all went ridged and wide-eyed with a new vibe. Their trances lasted for only a minute before returned to their realities, blinking and rather pale from what they'd seen.

"What's up? What did you see?" Kain asked, worried about what they could have seen to yield this reaction.

"Funny _you_ should ask," Cecil said, rubbing his eyes. "Sefi just used that sword moved you showed her this morning to kill a shark."

Needless to say that Kain's jaw was earthbound.

"Leviathan was there too," Rosa added. "The kids should be home soon," She said, sounding very relived.

There was a long pause as everyone soaked up the news. "Are you sure it was Sefi?" Rydia asked from across the room.

"Yeah, it was Sef alright," Angel said, nodding shakily. "I can't really believe it either,"

2222222222

Underwater, things were coming together quickly. Jaggra swam away from the ships and everyone was too busy to go after her. Once she was out of the way, Leviathan questioned the sharks about King Conch. Without anything to say to the serpent, the sharks all pushed Bane (of all fish in the sea!) out in front of Leviathan, and he led the crowd to the last ship in the fleet, where he unlocked the door to the captain's quarters and the biggest dolphin that any of them had seen rushed out and beat the guard with his tail.

"King Conch," Leviathan addressed the dolphin when he didn't stop beating Bane, "You'll have all the time in the world left for that later. I must speak with you now."

The dolphin looked up at Leviathan and bowed deeply. "My lord! I am sorry about my absence, but I was kidnapped by that maniac over there," Conch explained, pointing his fin at Bane (who was nursing a bleeding nose and broken fin).

"It is quite alright, my old friend," Leviathan assured him. "Just come along and leave this lot to think about what they've done," He directed and turned to leave with the two dolphins and the three humans with him.

"Wait!" Porom cried, bringing everyone's attention to rest on her. "What about the color-changing-water?" She asked Leviathan. A thoughtful look crossed Leviathan's face and he said,

"Yes… What about that?" as he turned back to face the sharks. They all let their eyes wander about, even though there was nothing to look at. Silence.

"Answer me!" Leviathan demanded. The crowd parted to reveal Bane once more. The shark growled angrily and said,

"It was all Telu's idea! She made the poison herself and she set it off! She wanted to make the dolphins look _really_ bad and we sharks could be more favored by you. So she had me kidnap the king so your special tribute would go unpaid, and then she set off the poison to make the punishment," He explained, not willing to say no to Leviathan.

"How did she know there was no poison?" Leviathan asked.

"I don't know. She just said that the poison was just a ruse and that she'd have to make one herself. And she's dead, so I guess we'll never know," Bane explained.

"Will it stop on its own?" Leviathan asked.

"It'll stop tomorrow; she said that she could only make each batch last for one or two days," Bane said. "The water will return to it's proper color and the fish will stop dying; just give it one more night, you'll see," he promised.

"Very well," Leviathan mumbled. "I hope that this has taught you all a lesson. Seeking power by evil means will get you nothing but a demotion. If you ever do something like this again, there will not be a shark left alive here; and that _is not_ a ruse," He told the cowering crowd, and turned back to his company. "Let us leave this place," He said, and led them away.

On their way out they passed the open fields of shark's bane, and Sefi swam out to get some. With the plant in hand, she returned to the group.

"Now we are really ready to leave," She said.

2222222222

There was much celebrating in the Dolphin Kingdom that day. Upon entering the city, the humans and dolphins parted ways: Trivia, Conch and Leviathan went straight to the coral castle; Palom, Porom and Sefi went to Silver's house to deliver the shark's bane.

Silver was pacing the area just outside her home when the humans approached. When she saw them coming, she ran up to them with an expectant look on her face.

"We have it," Sefi confirmed, holding out the plant. Silver's eyes grew as big as tea saucers and she gave a whoop of joy while doing a back-flip.

"Thank you! Oh thank you so much!" She cried, rubbing up against Sefi (the dolphin equivalent of a hug). "And not a second too soon; Kivey still lives. I thought she'd be gone by now," She added, leading the three into her house where the two calves still lay asleep. Sido looked much better now, but Kivey looked worse. She was as pale as sand and her breathing was weak.

"How do we use this stuff?" Palom asked.

"We make her eat it," Silver said, and nuzzled her child. "Kivey, honey, wake up. We've got something that will make you feel better," She whispered. Kivey's eyes fluttered open and she smiled at everyone present.

"You have to eat this, Kivey," Sefi told the calf, holding out the plant to her.

"It'll make me better?" Kivey asked weakly.

"Yes, it will," Sefi said, nodding her head. Kivey sniffed the plant and ate it quickly.

"Now you just wait a while; three hours, I think, will do," Silver told everyone.

Trivia appeared again, smiling broadly. Behind her was another dolphin, who seemed familiar.

"Artiria wants to see you all," Trivia announced. "Oh, by the way, this is my sister, Vayne," She said, pointing to the dolphin with her.

"It's nice to meet you," Vayne said, feeling sad about calling them all idiots earlier.

"Come on, the king and queen are waiting for you!" Trivia said, and led the party to the castle with brief nod to Silver.

In the castle, all the dolphins were abuzz with excitement. King Conch was back! And there was reason to believe that the poison would stop by morning! Everyone was rejoicing; and the humans, who had been avoided and feared that morning, were welcomed and hailed as heroes.

The throne room was just as full as the halls (_How many dolphins live here?_ Palom wondered). The two thrones were full now. Artiria occupied the throne on the left, and Conch, a giant among dolphins, filled the right. Leviathan stood next to Conch, smiling at the humans. Artiria rose from her place and rushed to Sefi.

"I can't tell you how much I owe you for this!" She said, rubbing against the girl.

"Your majesty, are you crying?" Sefi asked.

Artiria straightened herself and took a deep breath. "Not anymore," She said.

"Leviathan told us of how you handled Telu," Conch said, coming to float beside Artiria. "We are most impressed with you," He said.

"Of course, Trivia deserves much of the credit; she _did_ finish off Telu," Artiria pointed out.

"_And_ I caught that eel of a guard… I can't think of his name…" Trivia added.

"His name was Bane," Palom and Porom chorused.

"Thank you," Trivia said.

"Well, whatever his name was, you caught him," Vayne said, beaming at her sister.

"We can't even begin to thank you for all that you've done for us," Conch said to the humans. "If there is ever anything that we can do for you, just come and let us know."

"Thank you for you offer," Palom said.

"Will you stay a while longer? There are celebrations to be had," Artiria pointed out.

"My parents and sister must be very worried about me," Sefi said. "I should return to them… But I would love to stay," She said.

"What did you do with that last bit of breath plant you had?" Palom asked, remembering that Angel had refused the last bit of breath plant and that Sefi had just discarded it on the beach.

"Oh, the king of Eblan is in charge of that; I told him to hold onto it when I found on the ground," Leviathan said.

_I knew they had something to do with this!_ Sefi thought.

"Let Angel have what was left and she can come and have some fun," Palom suggested. "'Cause I want to stay."

Sefi nodded. "Angel would like that," She said. "I'll go for her," She said.

"And I'll take you," Leviathan volunteered. "You'll go faster on my back. Climb on," He said, leaning down for Sefi. She hesitated for a moment before sliding onto the summons' long blue neck (or back; he was so big that it was hard to tell).

"Hold on; we'll go fast," Leviathan warned. And without another word, they were gone.

2222222222

Angel and Rosa were on the beach, waiting for everyone to come back. The sun was setting, and it seemed to be taking the worry of the day with it. Everything in Mysidia relaxed for the first time in two days. Angel felt lighter now herself. And Rosa seemed to be feeling better too; they were actually having a conversation. It was the most that Rosa had said all day.

"I wonder where everyone is right now," Angel said, staring at the water.

"They should be back soon. Don't worry yourself," Rosa advised.

"I'm not worrying myself," Angel insisted, "I just can't wait for them to get back!"

When a dark spot appeared in the water (which was already fading back to blue), they bother drew nearer to the water. The large serpentine head that emerged caught them quite off guard, but they quickly recognized it as Leviathan; and as he rose in the air, it became clear that he bore a rider.

"Sefi!" Angel and Rosa both cried out together. Angel immediately tore off for the tower to let everyone know that Sefi was back.

"Hey! Everyone! Guess who just got back!" She hollered once she was standing in the doorway. Everyone looked up at her, very surprised (it was the most noise they'd had for a few hours).

"Let me guess, Sefi and the others?" Rydia asked, rising from her chair (wobbling a little bit) and moving to the door.

"Only Sefi," Angel corrected. "Come on," She said to everyone and bolted out again, well aware that her father and uncle were hard on her heels.

When they all got to the shore, Sefi was standing in front of Rosa, dripping wet, and saying what sounded like, "So can she come? Please?"

When Sefi and Rosa heard sand moving nearby and looked up, the first thing that they saw was Cecil racing toward them. The very next thing that either of them knew was that he had Sefi in a bear hug.

"Daddy, I'm getting you wet," Sefi pointed out, trying to breathe through Cecil's grip.

"Are you alright?" He asked, pretty much ignoring Sefi's statement, and not seeming to care that he was getting so wet.

"I'm fine, daddy," She assured him, finally freeing her hands enough to return the hug. Only then did someone grab her from behind, somehow wrestle her from Cecil's hug, and give an even tighter hug from which escape was absolutely out of the question (she was lifted off the ground).

"You're back! You're safe! You're _alive_!" Angel trumpeted. "We were all so scared! If you ever do that again, I tell you that Cid will be easier on you," She warned.

"Angel, I can't breathe…" Sefi squeaked.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Angel apologized, and released her twin.

"Yeah," Kain mused, catching up with everyone. "It'd be a real shame to get Sefi back only to lose her to suffocation five minutes later."

Sefi ran to Kain and threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you for showing me that sword move this morning," She said. "It saved my life."

Kain held her back a little bit and looked her over carefully. "It didn't hurt you in any way? I thought that it would break your arms for sure if you tried it now," He explained, perplexed.

Sefi giggled, amazed with herself. "It surprises me too," She informed him.

Then she saw Edge and Rydia come down the path and she remembered her mission.

"Palom and Porom and I saved the reef. The dolphins had invited us to stay for the celebrations, and we thought that Angel might like to come," She explained. "Their queen, Artiria, had said she'd like to meet my sister earlier," She added.

"She was asking me about that when you all arrived," Rosa mentioned.

Angel's eyes lit up. "So can I go? Please?" She asked, remembering what Leviathan had said about the breath plant.

Cecil jumped as Edge materialized at his side, holding out the shriveled scrap of silvery seaweed.

"Let the kid go; she deserves some fun after today," The ninja advised. Cecil took the breath plant from Edge and stared at it for a minute, obviously thinking. Finally he nodded thoughtfully and handed it to Angel.

"Have some fun, sweet," He told her. Angel grinned widely, snatched the plant, and gulped it down without a word.

"Thank you, daddy," She said, hugging him as punctuation. "Ready to go?" She asked Sefi.

"Yep. Let's hit it," Sefi said, pushing her wet hair out of her face and heading back to the water.

"Tell the dolphins that we said hi," Rydia requested.

"Can do," Sefi agreed. "The dolphins are really quite taken with you already," She said cheerily, joining Angel at the water.

Leviathan, still in his serpent form, let out a series of strange raspy, growling sounds.

"He says it's the truth," Rydia translated, sounding mildly amused and proud of her reputation.

"Get going or you'll both be late," Rosa pointed out. "Neither of you want to miss a thing, I don't think."

"Yes ma'am," The girls chorused, and climbed onto Leviathan's outstretched neck.

"To the reef, once more!" Sefi cheered as Leviathan dove beneath the water. Once they submerged, Angel held her breath, unused to breathing underwater. "You can breathe now," Sefi informed her sister. "You ate the breath plant, remember?"

Angel exhaled, and inhaled cautiously. "This feels so strange," She commented.

"I know; it takes some getting used to," Sefi said. "It'll be easier in a few minutes," She assured Angel.

2222222222

Yaaaaay!!! It's all good, now isn't it?

One more chapter to go, everyone! Gotta write it! See ya!


	15. Epilogue

I wanted to say thank you to those of you who have been so loyal to my first big story. Special thanks to Angel Wings 008 for always R'nR-ing when I updated. You've all been so kind to me on my first really big adventure.

Well, I'm sure that you're all dying to know what happened after the big underwater party, so, without further ado…

2222222222

Epilogue

2222222222

Bane's word was actually reliable: the water changed back to blue that night. However, in an astonishing turn of events, Bane became the next shark king. Jaggra swam away from that part of the ocean and was never seen or heard from again. A fish from the sea near Damcyan _did_ report seeing a lone female shark with deep purple eyes living in an underwater cave some years later. This shark was said to be very skittish and rather shy, but overall, she was really rather nice; she said that the way she acted had to do with seeing her mother killed as a child.

Sadly, though the search went on for months, no one could find a trace of the elder anywhere. Missing posters were tacked up all across the world, but they were never answered. This left a begrudged Palom to fill the empty spot at the head of Mysidian society. Even though he was quite up to the challenge (mage prodigy; come on!), he was reluctant to give up his freedom to go where he wanted and do what he pleased. Porom, of course, laughed at him.

Red came to Mysidia every year for summer school, since the twins had offered to teach her some of their best tricks. Palom was, of course, the most help to her, but Porom had her moments too. She actually taught Red most of the basic cure spells, and the princess became quite proficient with them. She just never remembers them any more and, therfore, never uses them. Such a waste; but she _is_ a fire mage.

Back in Baron, Sefi finally got her wish and was granted permission to train as a dark archer; under Kain's watchful eye, to keep her on the middle path between the utter darkness (which a dark knight required) and normality. In time, Sefi became adept in not only the bow, but in all manner of blades and even some magic. Everyone poked fun at her and called her a dark master because she did everything the dark way (except for summoning, although Angel said that she should learn it).

With nothing else to do with her time, but a lot of strength and skill, Angel began working with the palace security; in fact she eventually became the Captain of the Baron guard. However, nothing worth the attention of a paladin happened, so all that she could do was keep up her studies and bide her time.

And so, for a long time, nothing happened. For three years, nothing worth comment happened. In that time, Angel pondered what KluYa had told her on Mount Ordeals about a war that she would win.

_Nothing has happened, and there's no reason for one to start now,_ She thought grimly one afternoon while she was standing watch on the castle barracks, overlooking the road that led to the castle's main gate. _I still think they made a mistake, about me and the war and all that silly stuff._

Below her on the path, two people approached the gate. One was a young woman, maybe only 19 or 20 years old. Her skin was as pale as the purest ivory, and her dark brown was a striking contrast. Beside her walked a boy who looked a little older than Angel, by only a year or so (by now she was 17). His skin was light gold, and his hair was black. Judging by their clothes and the cat-claws that the boy wore strapped to his hands, they were both from Fabul.

_The woman is far to pale to be from Fabul, though; she's far to pale to be from _anywhere, Angel thought, knowing that she had obviously used some kind of cosmetic to make her skin desirably pale (white skin was favored in some areas of the world). Angel was always disgusted by women who strived to be so vain.

_What could they be doing here?_ Angel wondered. _I guess I'll find out soon enough..._

222222222

Ah so, the epic is over… to some degree. Angel's previous question is soon to be answered. _What about_ those unfulfilled prophesies from our favorite Lunarians? We'll find out soon enough. The saga will continue! Look for the sequel, "Paladin Wars", sometime in the very near future.

Once again, props to Angel Wings 008, and also to Mythweaver for grammar help. And _no_ thanks to Partially Crazy for reading the first two chapters and then, to the extent of my knowledge, dropping the story. (shakes finger menacingly in Partially Crazy's direction)

Well, more to write. The story's not over yet, after all! Off I go!

- Freida Right.


End file.
